smeraldo
by caipher
Summary: What she remembers of her world... she would describe, probably, in shades of green and sun rays and running water. This world feels like lightning and steel and earthquakes. And Sakura isn't sure if her feet are touching the ground.
1. mr blue sky

_hey, you with the pretty face_

 _welcome to the human race._

* * *

When her fingers start to tingle and her heartbeat is thrumming wildly in her ears, Sakura can tell something is wrong - something is _going_ wrong.

There is an averageness about the day, in that she wakes up early and goes to work at the hospital and has lunch with her team. It is a quiet, peaceful time and entirely mundane. Naruto is loud and golden, eating ravenously beside the quiet, pale Sasuke. She isn't that hungry, eating with mild motions, and everything is just extraordinarily _normal_.

But as her chopsticks fall from her hands and her bones seem to purr with anticipation, Sakura feels like screaming and crying and throwing up in one enormous moment.

She wants to lie down and let her stomach and mind settle, but instead an ugly, neon blue light fills her vision, the voices of those beside her fade from frantic yells to mechanical buzzing, and all she can smell is burning metal.

 _Wrong_ , _wrong_ , _wrong_ , _wrong_ chants through her head like a mantra.

And then she is gone.

* * *

And then she is falling.

Sakura curses at the approaching grey floor, righting herself despite the dizziness and nausea running through her. The humming of her bones seems to harmonize with the hum of crackling power around her.

She doesn't move for some time, trying to calm her breathing and blinking against the bright blue… electricity? Something massive and shining and unstable is whirring above her and it seems to be impatiently urging her to move.

She scrambles to come up with an explanation, in her mind, as to what is happening. Nothing is familiar, the entire feeling of the world around her seems unnatural. She tries to place how she got here, who she was with and—

There is a sudden, piercing pain in the back of her skull so intense that she would have screamed were her throat not horribly dry and there weren't so many people staring at her.

She…

…There are a lot of things missing.

But she is… Sakura. Sakura Haruno. Her name she knows for sure.

Sakura, still crouched low, stares at the concrete floor and tries to ignore the singular, piercing stare that has not strayed from her form. There is still a sparking mass of _something_ moving above her, and she has no memory of _anything_ , and she just feels like crying.

She thinks… she _knows_ that she is a fighter. That is something in her body, in her bones, not in her mind. Can't lose that. Ok, ok, that's- that's something.

She knows for sure, as well, that she can think this through. She is smart. Strategic. That is something that started in the mind but has become ingrained in her soul, somehow. Years of having to rely on intelligence and little else, she surmises.

There is… light. Or something. Liquid, flowing through her. It's weird and thick and heavy - in importance, not density. As if she has an awareness of her blood stream, she can feel that there is an energy humming underneath her skin. That is also… something, and it is something she can appreciate.

She knows she can trust her body. Completely. It feels as if it is yearning for a fight, something that both intimidates and awes Sakura at the same time.

Her mind, less so.

Ok. Ok, she doesn't have… everything. But she has the basics, probably. Maybe. Maybe if she gets out of this strange grey room with the weird… thing on the ceiling, she can sit down and think and work towards… something. Getting out is now her priority.

People are still staring at her.

She feels as if she is interrupting something.

To look up, then, and see fallen bodies, strange grey boxes with flashing lights, and a group of men staring gravely at her - she feels right in this assumption, and wants to laugh at how viciously strange life can be.

The blood surrounding the bodies doesn't make her sick. So, she is used to seeing things like, like _that_. Some sort of pity rises in her throat but she pushes it back down.

Directly in front of her lays a man, dark in clothing and complexion and expression. She knows he is hurt, is bleeding, and disoriented. Something surges forward within her and the energy that has been a quiet mumble jumps at the chance to manifest around her shaking hands.

She is so confused and overwhelmed and feels like her skull is going to cave in.

But a pair of black boots are heading confidently towards her, and the calm green surrounding her palms switch instantly to the blue of a rushing river. The sharp pain in her head makes a brief return, but her body knows not to bring her blue-tinted hands anywhere near her own face.

She'll save that information for later.

Sakura makes eye contact with the man approaching her, and feels something within her twitch.

She doesn't know much, and is generally confused as to what is going on, but there is a part of her - the part that fights and doesn't flinch at bloody bodies and has liquid power running through her - that knows he doesn't scream danger.

No - he whispers, _hisses_ it.

With pale skin and dark hair and green robes, gold accents that shine whenever a trembling light glances off of him. His eyes are not completely focused and he is sweating and breathing heavily but Sakura knows, instantly, that he is the most powerful man in the room.

There is a part of her - the part that is confused and feels like crying and doesn't trust her own legs to help her stand - that wants to melt into the ground and avoid this powerful, powerful man.

The other part of her whispers that she can probably still knock him out.

* * *

And then he hits the ground.

There is a pain bursting on his chest, and he is swearing a lot, when the sizzling blue portal behind him spits up something- someone else.

It's hard to focus through the pain of head hitting concrete and what feels like a cracked sternum, but it is easy to focus on the woman in pink that falls to the floor with practiced ease.

From what he can see (which isn't that fuckin' much) she is glancing around warily, taking in the environment the same way he, or his men, might. But her features are distinctly foreign, her clothes don't seem to resemble any he's ever seen, and her bright green eyes are strikingly memorable. Yet he could not put a name to that face if he tried.

Her hands glow green for one moment, then blue the next when the Asgardian steps towards her.

And it is her hair, _not_ her clothes, that is pink.

Nick hates how colourful these motherfuckers are.

* * *

And then he is interrupted.

There was no mention, not even in passing, of another being maybe, _possibly_ coming through the wormhole with him. After him.

An attempt of trickery on him is laughable at best. Pitiful, at worst. He hopes, for the sake of those... _hiring_ him, that they are as unprepared for this development as he.

He feels as if the grand tension of the room has been near-sucked out and his jaw clenches at the blow to his grand entrance. Loki can always appreciate his own theatricality, so to strike down the leader of the opposition and walk out with the Tesseract in one swift motion would be a rightful introduction, he thinks.

But the woman that has fallen out of the wormhole is brightly coloured, made up of defined muscles and petite build, and he could nearly _inhale_ the energy radiating off of her. The power. Her hands are surrounded in a steady green light, suddenly, and Loki's simmering anger turns to a peaked curiosity. All he can do is grin.

She looks up, directly at him. Her eyes are a piercing green, more vibrant than the energy of her hands, and she has decidedly delicate features for someone that practically screams raw strength and energy.

His interest is piqued, and as he glides toward her, he nearly feels sorry for her.

Then her hands are surrounded by blue energy, and his grin widens.

To intrigue the God of Mischief is a very dangerous thing indeed.

* * *

The man has stopped less than one foot from her, and Sakura is unafraid to look him in the eye. Or too afraid to look away. Not sure

He holds a tall sceptre, peaked in blue light, in one hand, his free fist clenching and unclenching beside him.

And then, it is being held out towards her.

Sakura glances back and forth between the hand and his heavy gaze, and when his grin stretches further, she thinks he is amused by her confusion.

She clears her throat, and stands, slowly and hesitantly. His hand does not move - he steps closer, minutely, towering over her smaller height.

The other part of her pushes her to lash out with blue fists and then help the one-eyed man that she thinks is maybe bleeding out.

But the confused part of her decides to open her mouth, and ask in a voice that she hopes isn't shaking:

"…Foe?"

* * *

Loki, were he a lesser man, would be whooping right now.

This tiny, naive, _stupid_ creature that is humming with power has absolutely no idea who- what he is. She is wary, he knows, but more than that, she looks lost. Confused.

Purposeless.

And he was thrust into this world to give purpose to those without it.

Loki shakes his head, grin twisting into something more deliberately soft, and takes two steps closer. He can see that she wants to be strong in this moment, and the energy that flows within her is pulsating in a tone that could resemble a warning - _stayawaydon'tcomeneardon'ttouchstayaway_.

The girl, though, takes in his placating smile and the men at his back and wills the blue energy away. Loki could cackle at the frustrated hum it is emitting, it's anger at the woman wielding it almost palpable. The girl wants her confusions eased. The force she has wants him dead.

Pleased, he moves further towards her until he can reach out and place her small hand within his own. Her body tenses, coiling to strike - and he knows, now, she is a warrior. One that is lost, but a warrior nonetheless.

He leans closer, taking in her large eyes and features that are too-soft for the warrior she is. And then Loki says:

"No. _King_."

Sakura faints.

* * *

 **/an/**

i want to faint, too. oh my gosh.

i've been reading ff for a very long time and i've never found the inspiration, or worked up the courage, to try and start a story of my own.

i found that inspiration after watching infinity war. holy heck. whatta great movie. so let's write about the movie that was released 6 years ago, yes?!

i want to try and continue this, and have an expansive, long story that maybe goes through more of the movies... and i will for sure if i can continue to be inspired, and there is a positive reaction. life is hectic and wild and i want to put my time into things that other people find interesting and want to read :)))) any critiques are appreciated ! i want to try my best to do right to these complex characters so please please let me know if there's anything that is _wildly_ ooc.

adieu !


	2. fox on the run

_you scream and everybody comes a running_

 _take a run and hide yourself away._

* * *

The decrepit steps, made of asteroids and existing for millennia, seem to stretch on limitlessly as he drags his feet up them. He is fearful of who waits atop them – for both the rumbling fury of the being itself, and the news he must bring him are unpleasant.

The Other pauses as he reaches the top, struck once more at the massiveness of the man in front of him. In both physical size and the power he holds, his master is dwarfed only by a sun, he thinks.

His master turns his head every-so-slightly his way, and this is his cue to fall to humble knee. If his master were any lesser, he would feel humiliated.

But, no. The Other feels honour and pride (and fear) course through him.

With lowered head, he reports, "My Dark Lord… I come bearing both news that I hope will please you so, and news that may… _disrupt_ the advancement of your plan. In theory."

There is a sudden, invisible pressure pushing down on his neck, now, and the Other chokes back a curse. He scrambles to say something, anything that will placate the man in front of him.

"Loki has the Tesseract, my lord. And the captured minds and willing bodies of a group of soldiers, all in thanks to the generous gift you bestowed upon him." The pressure lightens, but he can still feel fingertips itching to dig in once more. "A-and the disruption, sir… I-is minor, simply, sir. Unexpected, yes, but may- can possibly work to benefit us - to benefit you."

His masters mouth twitches slightly, and then the only pressure upon his neck is a set of narrowed, steady eyes.

"I have a... theory, my lord."

A pause that makes his throat tighten.

"…I'm listening."

* * *

And then he is staring at the Tesseract.

The picture doesn't do it much justice, Steve thinks to himself. It pales in comparison - in colour and grandeur and power - when he imagines the real thing. His stomach twists uncomfortably staring at it; it makes him think of falling and ice and sleeping through the fall and rise of empires.

"Who took it from you?" Steve asks, flipping to the next glossy page as Fury stands above him with ill-contained tenseness radiating from his form.

"He's called Loki. He's not from around here. And…" Steve glances up at Fury's pause, to see him pulling a compact device from his pocket. Its screen turns on with the flick of his finger, and a blue-tinted holographic screen is projected with another simple flick.

In it, appears a dull, concrete room filled with debris of men and machine alike. The crackling blue energy barely-visible at the corner of the screen doesn't detract from the people standing in the centre - a tall man in dark green robes, facing away from the camera, and a woman crouched will tense readiness in front of him.

Steve leans in slightly, taking in the bizarre colouring of her hair - a rosy pink, of all things - and the energy that surrounds her fists. She stands, slowly, and the CCTV camera adjusts, zooming in tighter as the energy around her hands fades away. The woman opens her mouth, speaking one word that he cannot make out from lipreading alone. The crackling of machines drowns out her quiet tone, so Steve looks to Fury briefly for explanation.

Fury's eye is trained on the image in front of him as well, but he can feel Steve's gaze on him, still.

"She asked if he was a foe." Movement on screen brings Steves attention back to the video, to see the man - Loki, he can assume - take the hand of the woman. Her body immediately coils, to strike, and Steve recognizes the traits of a soldier when he sees one.

But the woman cannot strike, as he witnesses her eyes roll back and her body fall limp. Loki lets go of her hand as she falls, twisting his neck with mock-curiosity to take in her unconscious self. There is a slight pause before he snaps his fingers, and two men rush forward to pick up the limp woman. A man steps forward purposefully, holding a silver briefcase, to guide the group out of the room. The screen flickers briefly before disappearing entirely.

"He told her he was a king," Fury says, placing the device within his jacket once more. "We have no idea who the woman is. No trace of her anywhere, no name to match the face. She appeared after Loki, from the same wormhole he did. Looked confused, but displayed signs of combat experience, and some sort of energy focused around her hands. Loki didn't seem to recognize her, she didn't seem to recognize anything at all, but now he has her. Whether that's something we need to worry about, we don't know yet. But our priority is finding Loki and recapturing the Tesseract."

Steve nodded minutely, responding seriously, "With all due respect, sir, that doesn't look like someone voluntarily joining the bad guys. She looked lost, more than anything. I don't think it would be wrong to call her an unwilling participant."

Fury frowned slightly, "She's an unknown variable, for now." He took the files from Steve's hand, glancing at them briefly. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve exhaled, coming to stand.

Fury, humourlessly, replied, "Ten bucks says you're wrong."

* * *

When Sakura wakes, it is to artificial lights and a cacophony of movement and noise.

She is separated from said rush of sound by thin plastic curtains, and the cot she is lying on takes up the majority of the makeshift room she has been placed in. Her head and body aches, but something in the back of her mind reassures her the pain in her body will soothe soon enough.

Sakura closes her eyes tightly, hoping the source of her pounding migraine is the unforgiving fluorescent lights above her. The headache only seems to throb harder, and she mutters a curse at the same time a hand draws back a section of curtain and a set of feet make their way towards her.

She has to clutch her head tightly when she tries to sit up quickly and receives an angry, pointed pain at the base of her skull in response. Though her body is sore in places, it seems to react with instinct to the perceived threat that has just walked in.

"Open your eyes, girl." A voice reminiscent of mist unfurling upon the ground instructs, and Sakura forces herself to open them with grit teeth and clenched fingers.

The man in front of her is the same she encountered the day (or days, as her concept of time isn't exactly solid at the moment) before, and wears the same infuriatingly-pleasant smile. "Ahh, there we are. I believe you arrived after my introduction, hm?" He tilts his head in a thin imitation of an acknowledging nod, preening, "I am Loki of Asgard. And I have one very important purpose for being here."

"…You struck down those men…" Sakura murmured, drawing her bright green eyes up to his duller ones and seeing them narrow slightly.

"Repetition is tiresome, girl," Loki says, taking a step forward, "But I am guided by this sole purpose. To bring enlightenment, to lead those with no path. No spine. If I am to succeed, and bring this world to a grander state of being, I am unafraid to strike down any that stand before me."

Sakura sat up straighter, matching his narrowed gaze. "And am I counted among those? Those with no purpose? Those you intend to strike down?"

The whir of machine and and voices is drowned out by the rushing of Sakura's pulse in her ears. She thinks she could probably defend herself, if need be. Her body tells her that.

But her body and mind haven't seemed to synch up with each other, nor with the world around her. Things still feel off, _wrong_ , and Loki seems completely and entirely in control of both himself and every movement around him. She cannot challenge him, not now - and from the smirk on his lips, he knows that.

"That… remains to be seen." Loki holds his hand out to Sakura, but she simply stares at it briefly. "Your name?"

Saying anything to this man feels as if she is speaking one of her darkest secrets, but he is the only person she can rely on for answers. And so, she replies.

"…Sakura."

* * *

The name is foreign on his tongue, but Loki repeats it, "Sakura, hm. And where is it that you hail from?"

Sakura opens her mouth to respond, but the answer dies before it can be spoken. He sees a flash of some brief, chaotic emotion in her eyes.

He understands, in that moment.

"You…" An indulgent grin stretches across his face. "You have no memory. Of _anything_ else." Her jaw tightens, and Loki knows that his ability to read others remains irrefutably just.

"How curious." He leans forward, slightly surprised when she stands swiftly to stare him down. Loki can tell it pains her to move so suddenly but takes great satisfaction in seeing her attempts at standing her ground.

"I know that my name is Sakura," she says, "And I know… that I can fight." Loki lifts his eyebrow, prompting her to continue. He is, truly, curious as to what she believes she needs to say. What she believes he wants to hear.

"I don't know who you are, or what you intend to do with me. What you intend to do with that…" She trails off, peering to his left and causing him to turn and do the same. The Tesseract sits, pulsating gently with light and energy and promise.

"…that power." Sakura finishes - Loki peers at her out of the corner of his eye, body still turned to the force that attracts and guides him so. The woman in front of him is astounding in her contradictions; soft in colour yet brimming with power, with a body and mind weakened (temporarily, he guesses) yet a gaze that is permanently strong. Another earth-thing to play with and unravel, he muses.

"But I also know that I don't have much of a choice. Not now."

"Allow me, then, to guide you," Loki says without pausing, "I help you. And you help me. I do right to ease your uncertainties, answer your questions. You lend me your… ability to fight."

He holds his hand out, once more, but her eyes do not stray to it this time. She hates this, he knows; sees it in the steel of her eyes and the clenching of her body. She is smart to stay suspicious.

But she is also desperate.

So she shakes his hand.

"Don't worry," his voice barely louder than a whisper, tightening his grip minutely. She responds thusly, and Loki is smiling again.

"You can trust me."


	3. lake shore drive

_pretty blue lights along the way, help you right on by_  
 _and the blue lights shining with a heavenly grace, help you right on by._

* * *

Sakura gazed intently at her palms, clenching and releasing them quietly.

The power comes and goes at her will, most of the time. Sometimes it grows bigger and brighter than she wants; sometimes it is a mere flicker when she intends to bring forth unbound energy. She is still imbalanced, off in some way. It'll fade soon enough, her body says. And she'll her (blind) trust in that instinctual sense of knowing.

Sakura can also sense that everyone around her has a trickle of this same energy flowing through them - but she has a roaring ocean of it compared to their still ponds.

She feels Loki's eyes flick to her, and she switches to picking at her fingernails, ignoring his prying appraisal of her.

Loki says nothing - only offering another one of those threatening smiles - and guides her silently through the maze of beeping machines and muttering workers. There is a robotic ease of which everyone moves about, and everybody only looks at her for a moment with blank, icey eyes before turning away.

It is unnerving, to say the least.

She also does not recognize any of the appliances scattered throughout the room, and not in a "hey-i-have-memory-loss-and-things-are-a-little-shaky" kinda way - in a "hey-i-don't-think-me-with-memory-would-even-know-what-these-are" kinda way. And so she is left thinking, once more, that she is more far-removed from home than a… "normal" amnesiac would be.

Loki comes to a stop, and they are now directly in front of the electric blue cube that seems to be at the centre of whatever is happening around her. Sakura can understand some of it's appeal, she supposes; it draws your eye in a moment and keeps it there for hours.

But it seems as if she is the only one that gets a distinct throbbing in the very centre of her forehead when her eyes stay trained on it for too long.

And so she looks away, towards Loki and the man he is talking to in hushed tones.

Feeling her gaze on him, Loki turns and catches her eye. The man gazes at her, too, and Loki takes this opportunity to introduce them, "Sakura, this is Agent Barton. One of the few people on this _pitiful_ planet to be enlightened," He says with a flourish towards the others gathered in the room, "He is assisting me on our path to victory. And he will be assisting you."

This man, Hawkeye, has eyes as ice-blue as those around him, but they seem far more focused than others. He nods sharply, asking, "What do you need from me?"

"Clothing, for one," Loki's eyes rove down Sakura's body, and she holds back from clenching her jaw. He has eyes of a similar lightness to the impersonal people roaming about, but his are sharp, and invasive.

It is a piercing, all-knowing look, and its weight doesn't decrease when his gaze returns to her face.

"That is, preferably, less vividly colourful."

Sakura scoffs at this, and she has to stop herself from making a snarky remark about the colour of her hair being "vividly colourful" - a shade that she had to get used to when seeing it out of the corner of her eye for the first time. She simply smiled sardonically at the amusement she saw dancing in Loki's eyes before he turned back to Hawkeye.

"That can be done," the shorter man says, his eyes leaving Loki to land on the glowing cube. Loki seems to relish in this, but Sakura can only frown slightly at the hold this thing seems to have over people.

"What did it show you, Agent Barton?"

Barton turns away, but replies, "My next target." Loki doesn't hesitate, and says, "Tell me what you need."

"I'll need a distraction," Barton flicks open a metallic bow-and-arrow set, "And an eyeball."

Sakura hates this fucking place.

* * *

There is little doubt in her mind that this strange, metal thing will probably fall out of the sky and they will probably all die.

Her nerves are bouncing around, crackling right underneath her skin. Sakura also thinks she might vomit, but Loki would probably find that amusing and so, instead, she swallows harshly.

One particularly harsh bump occurs, and she concentrates on staying upright and holding on tightly to the strap dangling near her head. Her hand coats itself in a thin layer of blue, and she can feel that same energy sticking her feet firmly to the metal ground beneath her.

It flows more naturally within her, now. Time to adjust to the rushing of everything around her - of plans and people and power - has helped. This part of her that has found balance is now itching to release some of this buzzing energy.

"While we're… on our way," She starts, hoping the conversation will distract from the constant, annoying rocking of the machine they're in, "I have questions."

"And I, answers," Loki replies, "If you answer the questions I hold, of course."

He never seems to wipe those self-indulgent grins off of his smug face, and it is _really_ starting to get annoying, but Sakura responds anyway, with a tap to the side of her head, "No promises." Loki's only response is to grin a little wider.

Little shit.

"What is that thing? That… cube?" She doesn't bother dancing around the subject, knowing he could twist her words if they were anything less than blatant. Loki's smile dimmed minutely, replaced with the tensing of his jaw.

"That _thing_ is the reason I have been brought to this Realm. The Tesseract, as it is known. Powerful, devastatingly so," He leant in, slightly, from his position on the other side of the machine. "Those humans, the ones that I _struck_ down, had no idea what they were dealing with. They are far too weak, in body and mind, to begin to comprehend the force they were trying to contain."

Sakura stares at him silently, at the glint of mania shining in his pale orbs. She expected such a response from a man that calls himself a king, but one thing he said stood out to her.

"You were _brought_ here?" She asks, but Loki cuts her off quickly, saying, "Ah, ah! You asked a single question, and I shall ask you one, hm?" Sakura opens her mouth to retort back, but Loki reaches out, instead, grasping her wrist quickly and fiercely.

The energy flares to life, and she thinks Loki has to stop himself from inhaling sharply.

" _This_." His eyes are focused solely on her glowing hand, the mania still there fractionally. "I have been to many Realms and seen many beings. I have never seen _this_."

"If I knew, I would tell you," Sakura replies tersely, clenching her hand slightly. She can feel his bones shift, but he doesn't seem to take notice of the pain. And so she continues, with a hint of a smirk, "Maybe."

"Oh, please," Loki scoffs, dropping her hand. "It is flowing through you. Embedded in every bone and vein of your body. You must have retained _some_ knowledge of it."

Sakura's smirk grows into a grin.

"I know I could kick your ass with it."

* * *

The people below, milling about in luxurious robes and glittering jewels, remind him of the mindless nobles on the realm he once called home. Mild music fills the gaps in their meaningless conversations, and Loki, from his place at the top of pristine marble stairs, sneers at the ants waiting to be crushed underfoot.

The girl - Sakura - stands beside him in a crisp, fitted black suit. He does think it suits her, and their intentions, more than the garish red and tan _thing_ she was wearing beforehand. Her gaze is steady as she looks upon the crowd below, but her heartbeat is elevated and her hands restless. She is either nervous, or excited. He hopes it to be the latter.

"The man in the centre." He says, drawing her attention.

"He has the eye."

Sakura sighs, and asks, "And by "has the eye" you don't happen to mean "has it in his pocket," right?"

He sneers at her pointless banter, deciding it unworthy of a reply and turning back to the humans below. "Restrain the man. I will obtain the eye."

Loki doesn't wait for her response, making his way down the stairs in pointed, precise steps. Sakura exhales in what he supposes is annoyance, but she follows him without making another remark.

The music seems to swell around him in greeting, in _anticipation_ , and Loki relishes in this as he flips his cane around and ruthlessly clubs a guard that stands between them and their target.

The crowd is thrown into a frantic, subdued panic, but they lack the willpower to take action and instead seek comfort in the similarly-weak humans beside them. Pathetic.

Sakura pushes ahead, focused solely on the suited man in front of the microphone. She lifts him, easily, with one hand around his collar and a force that flips him onto the flat-backed statue that stands in the centre of the room. The guests around them take a step back, the noise of their shrieks and exclamations building.

Loki steps forth, with a hum of mild appreciation for her swiftness, and acts with similar speed, pulling out the device and thrusting it into the eye of the man. He thrashes savagely, but Sakura holds him down with ease

This, finally, seems to break the crowd from their frozen chaos. People are yelling and running, pushing through one another to escape the perceived threat. Loki smiles at this, this display of mortal cowardice and fear.

"We are not yet finished," He murmurs to the woman beside him, whose eyes are scanning critically through the room. Sakura hesitates for a moment, but nods.

Loki notices she doesn't once look at the man screaming in pain beneath her.

* * *

Steve feels disgust rise in his throat, an old familiarity at the sight of Loki standing above the gathered crowd below. It is an image that hits too close to a home he thought he had left decades ago. Natasha says some instructions to him in a clipped tone, but the rush of adrenaline swirling in him makes the words hard to hear.

But he nods sharply, anyway, and invites the rush of cold air that greets him when the back of the Quinjet opens and allows him to jump out.

Steve lands, in time to block an old man, unwilling to kneel, from being struck by a beam of power from Loki's sceptre. It, instead, hits the man who fired it squarely in the chest, sending him to the ground with a grunt.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else," Steve says, stepping down and towards the fallen man. "We ended up disagreeing."

Loki stares at him venomously, and bites with a mocking laugh, "The soldier. A man out of time."

Steve responds, with a slight grin, "I'm not the one who's out of time."

He feels a wind at his back, and hears the whirring of the Quinjet as it appears behind him. Natasha arms the plane, drawing Loki's obvious ire by demanding the cruel god to stand down and drop his weapon.

Steve can feel the overwhelming cockiness radiating off of the man in front of him, and it only makes him a little more excited to take Loki down.

Loki rears up, sending forth a burst of energy once more, but it is directed at the Quinjet this time. Steve takes this opportunity to throw his shield at the man, hoping to strike him down once more.

But then, someone catches it.

This someone has blue-tinted fists, piercing green eyes, and… pink hair.

It's the woman from the video, the woman Loki took with him. Or, he supposes, by her obvious defence of him - the woman _with_ Loki.

She just caught his shield.

And is now glancing at it, looking near-unimpressed.

Steve would blush in embarrassment if the situation weren't so serious.

Loki laughs, loudly and unabashedly, and then Steve is just angry. He darts forward, grabbing for his shield, but the woman moves imperceptibly-fast and dodges his advance.

He drives forward with a fist, bringing it towards her uncovered head, but she catches it, too. The woman barely winces, despite retaining the full force of one of his punches within her palm. His punches are supposed to break bones.

He'll have to take this more seriously, then.

Steve aims lower next time, straight at his shield. The metal trembles under his fist, sending shockwaves down the woman's arm due to her inexperience with the weapon. It shakes her focus. She grits her teeth, and spins a kick towards his head, only to leap back and into the air when Steve dodges in kind. Rearing back her arm, the woman throws the shield directly towards him, forcing Steve to somersault swiftly to the side.

It hits the ground with a metallic thunk and the crumbling of stone, and Steve turns sharply to see it nearly fully-embedded in the brick courtyard beneath them. Wonderful.

The woman stares him down for a moment, across the courtyard, and Steve takes in her crouched stance and the fact she hasn't seemed to have broken a sweat. When they make eye contact, she surprises him further by allowing a brief, small smile to flash across her face.

It disappears as quickly as it came, and the woman takes a step in his direction that leaves a crack in the ground.

Steve sends his thanks to Natasha when gunfire strikes the brick in front of her, halting her advance. This little victory is short-lived when Loki appears at his side, striking him harshly in the side with his staff and sending Steve flying.

He can hear the rapid succession of shots, unrelenting, and presumes (hopes) the girl is caught up with that. His focus, now, is dodging the kicks and swings of the madman in front of him. It's made significantly harder without his shield, and one particularly harsh swing to the back of his spine sends Steve to the ground once more.

Loki advances, placing the butt of his sceptre on Steve's head. "Kneel," the dark-haired man demands through grit teeth.

Steve takes a moment, just one, brief moment, to catch his breath. The smell of burning metal is around them, and the only noise he can hear is that of the firing of a gun and the screaming of scared people. Innocent people. He is resolute.

"Not today!" With a twist of the sceptre and a spinning kick, he pushes Loki away and blocks a frenzied swipe of his staff. This seems to just piss the other man off, as he grabs Steve with an unrelenting grip and tosses him to the ground.

Natasha's voice comes over his earpiece, "The guy's all over the place. And I don't know how much longer this girl is going to dance with me." Steve lifts his hand to his ear to respond, but a recognizable voice and less-than-recognizable music stops him from doing that.

"Agent Romanoff, you miss me?"

Steve, from his place on the ground, turns briskly to the sky - and judging by the fact Loki isn't swinging at him, he's become distracted too. The gunfire has stopped, and he glances momentarily at the pink-haired woman. She, too, is staring at the dark sky, and the golden-orange streak streaming through it.

There is subdued awe is her gaze, where there is blatant contempt in Loki's. Steve is just confused and a little tired.

Thankfully, though, Stark's suit is as quick as his mouth and he shoots Loki down without hesitation. He raises one energized fist to the fallen god, and one gun-topped fist towards the woman, who has not moved from her crouched, tense position nearby.

Steve expects her to jump to the aide of the dark-haired man, but she simply stares with assessing eyes. They make eye contact once more, but her gaze darts to the ground before returning to him.

Loki is being handcuffed by Tony, and Natasha is departing the jet to apprehend the girl, so Steve indulges her. He follows her gaze, and sees it was solely directed at his shield, deeply embedded in the ground as it is.

He thinks she's amused by this, and finds this to be true when she sends him a half-grin even as Natasha grabs her harshly and restrains her. This smile stays on her face as she and Loki are guided into the Quinjet and Steve thinks he wouldn't mind being back in the ice again. Things would be simpler.

He ignores Tony's snarky remark and Natasha's slight chuckle when it takes him three harsh tugs to pull his shield free.

Yeah, the ice really doesn't sound too bad.

* * *

 **/an/**

thank you all for the response so far. i feel energized and motivated and i hope you guys continue to enjoy what you're reading.


	4. the chain

_i can still hear you saying_

 _you would never break the chain_

* * *

And then, when he looks over, she is still staring at him.

Tony isn't one to blush at the attention of a pretty woman, but he is one to squirm at a pretty woman dissecting him with her weird night-bright green eyes. They dart from his gloved fists, to his uncovered face, to the arc reactor glowing steadily at the centre of his chest. She's looked around at the interior of the jet, sometimes, but for the most part, she only has eyes for him.

He'd feel flattered if she wasn't working with the green reindeer dude.

"I don't like it," Steve whispers, breaking his train of thought.

"Yeah, yeah, me too. Feel like she's undressing me with her eyes or something, yikes, I don't know if I've seen her blink—" A sharp look from the star-spangled man beside him cuts Tony's distracted rambling short. "Oh, you mean- what? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being ever that easy. This guy packs a wallop," Steve continues, turning to peer over his shoulder at the two captured individuals.

Loki had remained silent, staring straight forward the moment he was placed in his seat. Tony had a niggling feeling that fell along the same lines of Cap's words - guys like Loki go down with flashing lights and fireworks, not with hands raised submissively.

"And she," said with a nod of the head to the pink-haired woman, "Could snap those cuffs in a second."

"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?" The Captain looks confused at this quip, but Tony can tell he's hit a nerve when he refers to the older man's time spent as a glorified freezer pop.

Their banter is cut short as two things happen simultaneously:

Lightning and thunder, arriving out of nowhere, storms overhead, and the pink girl is clutching her head tightly and holding back grunts of pain.

"Hey, hey, Slytherin," Tony says, taking a single step towards the seated pair. "What's with her? Why's she-" He cuts himself off, noticing the trepidation in Loki's gaze as it darts from the window to the roof of the jet.

Steve notices this too, and asks near-smugly, "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki only responds grimly, "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Things happen quickly, then - there is a massive thump from the roof, lightning crackling loudly, and Tony is putting his helmet on and opening the back of the jet, not expecting some tall, muscled beach-blonde to land and knock him straight into Captain. With some weird hammer-thing. Great.

Then the Ken doll with extensions is grabbing Loki and flying off with him. Double great.

He ignores the original Ken doll's insistence that they develop some sort of plan, and boosts off into the dark, storming sky.

Tony Stark doesn't really do "plans."

* * *

Sakura feels as if fire is burning in her head, licking out of her ears and down her spine.

She shuts her eyes so tightly that they begin to water, but the pain is still there and flashes of light and visions and images dash across her closed eyelids.

Black and red and birds and swords and silver and lightning and fire and blue and gold and—

"Hey!"

Someone places their hand on her knee and then she is back in the flying metal thing, hands chained and the fiery pain reduced to smouldering. The red-haired woman is in front of her, face stern and hands clenched by her side. Everyone else - Loki, the man in blue, and the man-machine hybrid - is gone.

"Where… where is…" Sakura's throat feels dry and her bones feel sore. It's reminiscent of the way she felt when she first met Loki, and she really hopes she doesn't end up fainting this time.

The woman stares at her silently for a moment, before she sighs and drops to a crouch in front of Sakura.

"Your partner? Off with the other boys to play fight and waste my time," she says, maintaining eye contact, "But that gives us time to talk. Just you and me."

Sakura says nothing, but hesitates for only a moment before nodding slightly. The woman in front of her radiates power, but in a way different to the silver-tongued Loki or the man in blue that looked like he was made of marble. She is a subtle, meticulous strength.

"Mind telling me your name?"

Again, a slight pause. But she still responds, "…Sakura."

"Ok, Sakura. I'm Agent Romanoff, and I work for an organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Ever heard of it?" Sakura shakes her head. Agent Romanoff smirks, "Good. I'm telling you this now, because the man you are associated with, Loki, is acting with intentions that directly oppose that of S.H.I.E.L.D. And, though you just fought alongside him, I want to ask you, directly - what are _your_ intentions?"

Sakura feels overwhelmed, once more. She is stuck in an environment that is throwing off her balance, stuck without any semblance of memories, stuck between knowing who the good guys and bad guys are. She has no standards, no set of expectations to base her thoughts and actions on.

She worked with Loki out of necessity, and she isn't too proud to do the same with these people.

"I… don't have any." It is a half-assed response, and Agent Romanoff's raised eyebrow conveys the message that she needs to say more than that.

"When I… arrived, I didn't… I-I don't-" The words are hard to say, because they make the reality of her situation that much more realistic and unavoidable. But with Loki… _out of commission_ and him apparently being one of the bad guys - again, Sakura doesn't have much of a choice. She has to place her trust in these strangers and it makes her stomach twist uncomfortably.

"…I don't remember _anything_." Agent Romanoff tilts her head minutely. It's an answer she still doesn't think is good enough.

"My name. And fighting. That I can fight, I'm a fighter. That's all. Honestly," Sakura feels like she is on the verge of pleading for understanding, but she persists in a way that she hopes the other woman can understand. It comes out in a near-whisper.

"He said he would help me, if I helped him. I didn't have any other options." Romanoff stands to her full height, suddenly, and Sakura worries for a moment that the other woman is done listening to her.

But then, she sends Sakura a small half-smile and says,

"Ok. I believe you."

* * *

"I'm not sure if I believe her."

Steve looks back, watching Natasha approach the two-way mirror he is standing at, arms crossed across his chest. Her gaze is as observant and critical as ever, directed to the pink-haired woman sitting in the room ahead of them. Sakura, she told Natasha. Her name was Sakura.

"To get caught after working with that megalomaniac, then claim you have retrograde amnesia? It's convenient - not entirely convincing."

Steve would be inclined to agree wholeheartedly with the Black Widow, had he not seen the footage when Sakura first appeared. He knows the look on her face and in her eyes - lost, overwhelmed. Completely and utterly out of her element. He knows because he has been in her position.

"I don't know, ma'am." Natasha chuckles under her breath at his politeness, but Steve continues. "If you watch that footage-"

Agent Romanoff cuts him off with a careless wave of her hand, "Yeah, I know. You keep referencing that. I'm more inclined to reference the footage of her holding that man down while Loki takes his damn eye out."

Steve sighs, saying nothing for a moment and returning his gaze to the woman in the empty, steel room. There is a set of chairs and a single, rectangular table. Sakura sits quietly, her cuffed hands connected to the centre of the table with an electrically-charged chain. She looks nervous.

"Can I talk to her?" He feels the need to get a more solid understanding of the girl in front of them. One not based on footage or fighting. Determine whether or not she can be considered an ally.

He feels Natasha's stare on the side of his face, but chooses not to acknowledge the scrutinizing look. Steve holds his ground until the spy beside him exhales briefly and says, "You're entirely too trusting, Cap."

Steve can only smile grimly as he makes his way around and into the interrogation (for lack of a better term) room.

Sakura looks up at him as he enters, opening her mouth to say something before shutting it quickly. He is probably the last person she'd expect as a visitor, considering the scuffle they were just in. Her eyes stay glued on him as he pulls out the chair across from her and sits, considering for a moment before holding out his hand for her to shake.

Her eyes dart to it instantly, and she tilts her head in a silent question. Steve says nothing, only waits patiently. It is the most simple, literal way of attempting to reach out and make a connection, but he also thinks it's probably the first common courtesy she's seen in the last couple days.

"…Very diplomatic of you," Natasha's voice crackles to life in his earpiece, but he ignores it as Sakura reaches out to grasp his hand. Steve's large palm dwarfs her smaller one, but he has seen the damager her fists can do. Her grip isn't nearly as strong as her punches, luckily.

"Steve Rogers," Natasha mumbles something about codenames and confidentiality, but he continues, "Sakura, right? How are you holding up?" Her eyes narrow, ever-so-slightly, and he can tell she's thrown off by his overt politeness. He doesn't look away or falter in the eye contact they are holding.

She has a sharp gaze that reminds him of the red-headed woman observing them, but her eyes are less guarded, cold, and a very, very bright shade of green. Sakura breaks the contact to look down at her chained wrists, and bite the corner of her lip unconsciously. Steve's gaze is drawn to this for a moment before he looks back to her downturned stare.

"I'm… alright." Her eyelashes flutter, the shadows of them dancing across cheekbones as she takes a breath. "I don't know what's going on. Who anyone is, what's happening. So that's great. Uh, I don't remember anything before two days ago. Also great." Sakura lets out a dry huff of laughter, but the forced attempt at lightening the mood is lost quickly.

"Alright. We'll go back to two days ago, then. What is the earliest thing you can remember?" Steve leans back in his chair slightly, ensuring she doesn't feel crowded or pressured. Her eyes meet his again, and he can tell she is working through a response in her head.

"…The more honest you are, the less complicated things will be," He says, sincerely. His empathetic side wants to help this woman that seems so lost, but his soldier side needs to know she isn't a threat. Trust is built upon honesty and that is a door she needs to open herself.

"Falling. From the… thing. The blue energy mass. Everything around me felt… off. I didn't recognize anything, anyone. The fact I didn't have any memory, of _anything_ , hit me then. I fainted. Woke up, and… Loki was there. Told me about his plan of… enlightening the world. Or something."

Steve's curiosity at this point must show on his face, because Sakura pauses before shaking her head briefly. "He never went into specifics. Just talked about… bringing purpose. Never said how, or why."

"Then why did you help him? Follow him without questioning the how and why?" He can't help but interrupt. This is the question that's been eating at him, the one that he _needs_ to have answered.

Sakura bites her lip again. It's a nervous habit, he thinks. She clenches her fists slightly, almost out of frustration.

"I didn't… I didn't have much of a choice. I wake up and nothing is familiar and this man says he will help me. I help him, he helps me," The next words seem almost painful for her to say, and they come out in a near-whisper as she looks at him directly.

"…I was desperate. And scared."

Steve says nothing for a moment, taking in her answer and tossing it around in his mind. Her tone and gaze haven't wavered once, unless out of a moment of nervousness. Her spine is stiff-straight and he can tell she is exhausted from the occasional trembling of a muscle or two.

He doesn't think himself quick to trust, despite the words of the red-headed agent. Too many years, too many people have gone by for him to be able to trust blindly.

Steve doesn't consider himself quick to trust, but he likes to consider himself quick to understand.

He understands the woman in front of him. He went through the same thing, waking after 70 years under ice and knowing nothing of the changed world around him.

Steve believes her.

"…I will do my very best to help you get your memory back, ma'am. I want to help you, and I want to trust you. I only ask that you do the same. Trust me," He says, rising to a stand. She watches him carefully, before a small, bitter smile grows on her face.

" _He_ said that, too. And then had me help him rip some guys eye out." Sakura quips dryly, but Steve smiles slightly in response.

"With all due respect, ma'am – Loki and I are very different men."

Sakura's smile shifts, softer around the corners.

He can feel his shift a bit, too.

* * *

 **/an/**

all the reviews and follows and favourites truly make my day. thank you for motivating me.


	5. bring it on home to me

_if you ever change your mind_

 _about leaving, leaving me behind_

* * *

Sakura is guided through hall after hall of metallic rooms, the tight grips on her shoulders and biceps not lightening for a moment. She has been interviewed (interrogated) and examined and observed for what feels like days, but she knows that mere hours have passed.

Among the rushing of people around her, she sees, up ahead, a tall, dark figure standing still and facing their direction. Sakura places him as the fallen man she remembers in her first memory, the one that was injured - the one that made her hands green instead of blue.

He cuts an imposing figure, with furrowed brow and his singular eye intense and unreadable. She doesn't need to see her escorts salute stiffly to him to know he is the one in charge. With their salute, they say firmly, "Director Fury, sir!" - the hands still on her biceps tightening slightly to betray their nerves.

"At ease," He says gruffly, turning to the man to her left, "I'll take her. Report back to… wherever you report back to." There is only a moment of hesitation from the escorts, but this moment is enough to annoy the man in front of them - Director Fury, she now knows - further than he already seems to be, if possible.

"I don't have the time, or the patience, to hear whatever stupid shit you're about to say. Leave," And this is the only cue the men need, as they scramble to salute and depart swiftly.

Fury stares - maybe glares is more appropriate - at her quietly for a moment, before exhaling loudly through his nose and bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Sakura feels some sort of vague sense of recognition to this scene, but can't place it.

"Alright. Listen. Sakura, whatever," She wants to laugh at his overflowing exasperation but that'd probably get her thrown back in some cold metal room. "Everything's going to shit. I've lost some of my best men to that mind-bendin' snake, some alien cube with untetherable power got jacked, and I have a massive migraine. So I will be short, and simple."

He reaches forward, grabbing hold of her cuff-linked hands and lifting them up slightly. Sakura's eyes are drawn downwards, and she watches as he pulls out a small metallic rod, with a circular head that shone with a dull blue light.

Her eyes dart back to Fury as he continues, "I am going to unlock you. You will assist us, in ensuring Loki stays apprehended and in the recovery of the Tesseract. In return, we help you with your… ah, forgetfulness." Sakura scoffs slightly, but Nick pointedly ignores this.

"You look back, make one step in the other direction, towards _him_ ," With a pointed tilt of his head, "We lock you back up and figure out what makes those hands of yours glow. Make sense?"

Sakura feels something buzzing within her - excitement and nervousness and anticipation and adrenaline - but tries not to focus on that; instead, she chooses to nod her head sharply.

Fury's one eye focuses intently on her, deconstructing and reassembling her from the inside out. This tense silence lasts a moment before he grunts in decisiveness (towards himself or her, she can't say) and places his thumb particularly over the circular end of the rod. A bit pops out of the opposite end, and she realizes it is the key to her cuffs just as he is unlocking her from them.

Sakura flexes her fingers, rotating her wrists to shake off the stiffness. Her energy flickers to life for one brief moment before disappearing, but she looks up quickly to gauge Fury's reaction.

He is staring at the cuffs, sitting, open, at their feet. Then his eyes move to her hands, to her face and eyes.

Sakura isn't sure what to say, exactly - what will appease him or piss him off more. So she settles for, in a hoarse voice:

"Thank you, sir. You won't regret it."

Fury only shakes his head briefly, before starting towards the right and leading them down the hall. Sakura follows after him, playing with her hands out of nervous habit.

The sound of Fury mumbling something that sounds like "My desperate ass…" is drowned out by the voices heard up ahead. And as they round the corner, and approach a table surrounded by people Sakura fought about 9 hours ago, her nerves come back full-force.

She honestly wouldn't _mind_ fainting at this point. It would probably be less stress-inducing.

* * *

Steve watches the interaction between Tony and Bruce with a crease between his brows. They speak about concepts - that make absolutely _no_ sense to him - as if they were discussing the weather.

And looking around, at the blatant confusion on the face of the Norse god and the slight tilt of Natasha's head, makes him think it's not because he was born over 70 years ago.

He's not sure when science and technology became so advanced but Steve's just grateful the vast majority of his job involves throwing a shield and throwing punches.

Tony then says some snarky comment about Bruce's… other guy, and Steve opens his mouth to remind him to " _play nice"_ \- but Nick Fury enters instead, saying to everyone that Bruce's purpose here was, mainly, to find the Tesseract.

And then Sakura enters - unrestrained - behind him, and Steve isn't sure what Fury is trying to say to everyone.

The room shifts, instantly.

Tony steps forward slightly, hand traveling to grip the lapel of his blazer. Bruce does the opposite, stepping backward and fiddling with the glasses he holds in his hand. Natasha's hands travel to beneath the table, and Thor's entire upper body tenses. Steve, without much realization, only straightens slightly in his seat.

He said he believed her - he won't let everyone else's distrust shake his so easily.

Steve feels Natasha's eyes dart to him. She has, undoubtedly, taken notice of his reaction and will file it away for a later interrogation. Can't wait.

Thor is the first to speak, and says in a voice that rumbles from his chest, "What is the meaning behind this? That is the woman that lent her strength to my brother, is it not?!" With an accusatory point towards the pink-haired woman. "You meddle in affairs of which you know not, aligning yourself ignorantly to a god-"

The long-haired man is cut off as Nick throws a pair of metal handcuffs noisily onto the central console. Everyone's eyes follow this action immediately, but quickly return to Fury, all with a quiet question in them.

"Despite your tone, ignorant is the right word in this situation." Thor says nothing, and Fury seems to take this as a willingness to listen. "As you've all been made aware, Sakura has extensive retrograde amnesia. She appeared shortly after Loki did, from the same wormhole as him. He was the first person to interact with her - the first to offer his assistance in exchange for her abilities. _That_ is the only reason for her working with Loki and… meddling in his affairs."

"As far as we know," Tony quips, scratching at his jaw and avoiding Fury's pointed look, "As far as she's _told_ us."

"As far as we _know_ , Loki is going to stop at nothing until he's used the Tesseract to take over the damn planet. Or destroy it," Fury replies without hesitation, "She's passed all our tests. I'm not too proud to turn away a possible ally."

There is a muted tension as everyone mulls over Fury's resolute words. He can see Tony and Bruce glance at each other out of the corner of his eye, and some silent conversation occurs.

Steve's gaze shifts to Sakura, whose green eyes are traveling from person to person. She's biting her lip - she's nervous. Her eyes land on him, and there is the slight jolt of her body once they make eye contact.

He only offers her a tentative half-smile - knowing the smallest showing of kindness at this time would probably lift some weight off of her (deceptively) small shoulders.

Steve feels satisfaction bloom in his chest at the hesitant - _genuine_ , he thinks - smile he receives in return.

If she is lying, Sakura is the most believable actress Steve has ever seen.

Or… he's the most gullible, trusting man alive.

Time will tell.

* * *

And then the girl is stepping forward, with hesitant steps.

Bruce cannot figure out what to make of her. The questions regarding her loyalty are interesting, yes - but he is far more interested in the memory loss plaguing her mind and the power she can draw forth to her hands.

But his empathy outweighs his clinical curiosity. Bruce knows far too well about being displaced, brought to an unknown environment, just to be scrutinized and observed. That seems to be a permanent cycle, for him.

He's brought out of his musings as Fury continues on, gesturing to the pink-haired woman now standing at his side, "Sakura will fight with us. Any questions, ask her. Any complaints, keep them to yourself." Fury then reaches into his pocket, drawing out a small, computerized key and tosses it to a slightly thrown-off Steve Rogers. His gaze is on the super soldier, but his tone seems to be directed towards everyone.

"Any wrong move she makes, you restrain her. Think you can do that?"

Bruce chuckles underneath his breath, realizing the purpose of Fury's extremely public declaration. Show Sakura that everyone is willing, and able, to deal with her if she does wrong by them. Let the group know that she's trustworthy, but not blatantly ignoring everyone's hesitations. But placing the key directly in the hands of Cap - the most sympathetic one of the bunch. Create accountability for everyone present. All very strategic.

There probably isn't a better man to lead a covert government organization.

Seemingly done with disturbing the non-peace of the group, Fury turns to him and Tony and draws everyone's attention back to their main concern.

"That damn sceptre is powered by the cube. I don't need a phD to know that - but I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor is visibly confused, "Monkeys? I do not understand."

Steve is eager to respond, "I do! I understood that reference." Bruce can practically feel Tony rolling his eyes dramatically beside him. Fury only shakes his head, before he turns to leave, Agent Hill following after him briskly.

There is an extended silence that Bruce is just _waiting_ for Tony to break.

"….Weeeee _ellllll_ …"

Yeah, there he is.

"As unofficial leader," There are scoffs heard around the room at this remark, "Welcome. To the team. Ah, don't try to attack us. Please, then we won't attack back. You've heard that already, probably. Uh-" Tony snaps his fingers messily, then turns to Steve.

"Uh, Steve. Captain. Old man, you mind lookin' after her? Bruce and I gotta play with that sceptre," Tony says with a sniff, "Agent Romanoff probably has spy stuff to do. Thor is…" Bruce looks to the Norse god, who seems to have retreated into himself after his outburst and is crossing his arms tightly across his broad chest.

"Thor's dealing with some family stuff. Right, yes, so you watch her, Bruce and I go solve some spacey science problem, sound good with everyone?" Tony says this as he begins walking backwards out of the room, and Bruce can only sigh quietly and trail after him.

"Well, wai-" Steve begins, but Tony is waving his hands emphatically.

"Don't worry, Cap, I believe in you! Even if no one else does!" Bruce nearly runs into Tony when he stops suddenly, seeming to remember something, and turning sharply to Sakura. His head tilts comically to the side. Bruce is afraid of what he'll say next.

"Your hair natural?"

Sakura's fists turn blue, Tony is tugging on his shirt to pull him out of the room, and Bruce is very grateful he hasn't turned green from pure stress yet.

* * *

Steve is feeling more than a little out of his element. More than usual, anyway.

After Bruce and Tony left, Thor walked out, murmuring something about a woman named Jane. Natasha gave him and Sakura a strained smile, suggesting he just show her around for now, and then leaving as well.

Yes, of course. He arrived here days ago and Natasha is intimately familiar with every inch of this helicarrier, but he should give Sakura the grand tour. Makes sense.

Steve can feel Sakura's inquisitive gaze on him, and he hastens to stand up from his sitting position at the table.

"Ah, alright," He isn't sure what to do with his hands, so he settles them on his belt awkwardly. "I will, uh, show you. Around. Yes, ok, let's… um, I'll just-"

A slow smile blooms on Sakura's face at his stuttering, and Steve can feel heat rising on the back of his neck. 70 years and a super soldier serum later, yet he still is as awkward around girls as when he was 6 inches shorter and 65 pounds lighter.

Sakura takes mercy on him, as she asks lightly, "Are there any… sleeping quarters? Or something like that?"

Steve nods quickly, "Ah, yes! Yes, there are- we have sleeping quarters. We can go there. Right now."

She follows quietly after him, in the direction - _he hopes_ \- of their rooms. He's _thinks_ there was an empty room beside his, but he'll _really_ not know what to do if not. Steve has really only been in his room a couple times, and his attempts at sleeping are restless at best, but it's the only place he doesn't need directions to find.

The walk has been silent enough that Steve nearly jumps when Sakura asks, "Would you… would you like me to call you Captain? Or…" He glances at her out of the corner of his eye, to see she is looking his way as well, and biting her lip.

"Ah… Steve. Just Steve is fine." He says with a half-smile. She nods tentatively, and stops biting her lip. Good. The less nervous, the more trusting, he thinks. The more willing to help them.

They arrive at the hallway that holds their rooms, and Steve knocks on the door to the right of his, pressing the button to open it when only silence responds. The bed looks untouched and the open closets are empty, so Steve steps to the side and gestures for Sakura to enter.

She does so, taking everything in and stepping briefly into the attached bathroom, before turning back to him.

"I'll, uh, give you some time to… freshen up?" It comes out as more of a question than a statement, but Sakura doesn't acknowledge that (thankfully). "I'm just to the right of you, so, just, um, grab me. When you're done. I'll do my best to show you around," Steve finishes with a chuckle, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Sakura stares at him for a moment, opening her mouth to say something, before shutting it quickly. Steve tips his head slightly, silently urging her to say what she wants.

"I… At the moment, I don't think I'm… worthy of your kindness. I haven't earned it," Her eyes seem to tighten in resoluteness, "But I'll do everything I can to be deserving of it."

Steve takes in the decided look in her eyes, her hands held, clenched, in front of her, and the stiff set of her jaw. For the most part, he is always trusting of his instincts when judging the morality of another. A powerful fighter is not as useful, to him, as an honest person.

Sakura hasn't disappointed him yet.

And so he smiles - fully - at her, nodding his head sharply, and says as he exits:

"I'm looking forward to it, ma'am."

* * *

 **/an/**

thanks again for all the support! i love you all ! the pacing might seem a little slow at the moment but i'm really trying to ease sakura into this world and into interacting with these people - and they wouldn't immediately all trust her and become friends. trying to make everything believable, mostly. it should pick up soon in terms of action / relationships! thank you for reading !


	6. southern nights

_have you ever noticed southern skies?_

 _its precious beauty lies just beyond the eye._

* * *

The room is very quiet, and Sakura feels as if it is the first glimpse of calm she has had the past few days.

She isn't tossing and turning, trying to force sleep. Not listening to Loki bark directions to his followers, or someone interrogating her with quick, sharp jabs. No fighting or explaining or looking to the man with gold hair and blue eyes that makes her ache with lost recognition.

Sakura begins to cry, silently.

They're not of sadness or despair - no, she's just thoroughly exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally, each part of her is sore.

They are not tears of self-pity. _Those_ are not in need of shedding.

They climb down her cheeks slowly, and the only noise coming from her mouth is the occasional sharp exhale or shuttering inhale.

She swipes them away gently as she begins undressing, throwing her blazer and pants carelessly onto the bed.

Sakura counts each button particularly as she takes her blouse off, taking care to breathe deeply with each quiet movement of her hands. It seems to work - she convinces herself it has worked - when her tears have abated and her breathing has calmed just as she reaches the last button.

She enters the bathroom, which lights up suddenly and makes her jump. Sakura doesn't have enough strength to question the strange technology that confronts her at every turn in this place.

Even thinking about the man in metal - Tony Stark, a voice reminds her - makes her head pound in confusion.

The bright, unforgiving lights of the bathroom make her wince harder when she sees herself in the mirror for the first time. The literal _first time_ \- since losing everything but her name and instincts.

Her hair strikes her, immediately. It reaches just above her collarbone and is a soft _pink…_ that, she thinks, makes her look more young and more harmless. The roundness, the openness of her eyes compliments this, but Sakura doesn't feel shame. Maybe she did, when she was— before.

But she likes to think it means her punches hit harder, landing on those expecting less of her.

She watches a satisfied smile spread on the lips of her reflection.

But her skin is dull and dirtied, her hair tangled, and she probably smells like sulphur and megalomaniac. So she hops in the shower, ensuring it is near-scalding to get rid of every inch of dirt, and rushes through the unremarkable set of soap, shampoo, and conditioner stocked within the shower.

Stepping out and wrapping a towel around herself tightly, Sakura pauses for a second before a loud curse leaves her mouth.

She doesn't have any other clothes.

But the silence is still there when she returns to the main room, and it makes her chest itch uncomfortably, so she only grumbles for a moment before forcing herself to put the pants and blouse back on. The blazer stays, crumpled, on her bed as she leaves the room and turns to her immediate right.

There is a slight scramble from behind the other door when she knocks on it briskly, and Sakura grins wryly to herself.

She finds an odd familiarity with Steve, in his humility and charming awkwardness and his willingness to trust her. And, as she'd said to him, it was a kindness that she really didn't think she deserved.

But empathy and compassion seems to weave through his blood and bones, and she knows she'll have to fuck up royally to lose her precariously-earned trust.

Sakura can't help but admire him greatly. It could be seen as a weakness, to others, to let empathy guide you at times.

Sakura thinks Steve is probably one of the strongest people she's ever met. Ever will meet.

Her rambling thoughts are interrupted by the opening of the door in front of her, upon which she sends a soft smile to the man in front of her.

Whose bare torso is only covered by the shirt he holds in front of him.

Why the _fuck_ is everyone here unnaturally gorgeous?

* * *

Steve feels heat rise on the back of his neck as Sakura's smile falters, her gaze dropping to his chest before snapping up to his face and staying there.

Nobody _ever_ knocks in this damn place, so he was caught off guard and feeling frantic and _yes he should have pulled his shirt on_ —

"Ah. Um," Sakura says suddenly - purposefully, probably to break the awkward air around them. He quickly pulls his shirt on as she continues, "I was hoping we could, ah, find me a change of clothes?" Her voice rises a bit at the end, and he notices her biting her lip again.

A part of Steve wants to go back in the ice. Maybe, then, his neck and face wouldn't feel like they're burning.

Instead, he forces a grin, saying, "Y-yes! Yeah. Um… I think we'll have to find Agent Romanoff for that. But I can point things out as we pass by. Sound good?" Sakura nods eagerly, and he feels guilty that he didn't think to grab her a change of clothes before she washed up.

But he pushes this worry to the back of his mind, striding forward and deciding that their best chance at finding Natasha is walking around and hoping they stumble in to her.

Every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent they pass straightens upon seeing him, and send him a grateful nod and salute. When their gaze shifts to Sakura, their smiles tighten and they don't nod at her.

Steve glances at her every now and then, but she doesn't seem too put out by this. More so, her attention is focused on everything else moving around her - the panels within the walls, the automatic doors, the windows that show them just how high up they are.

"It's pretty crazy, huh?" He finds himself saying, and her gaze travels to him. It is filled with some confusion, but mainly a near-childlike awe that makes his lips twitch into a smile. "All the advancements they've made… it's a lot to take in."

"Mhmm… Everything is… impressive, to say the least," Sakura nods slowly, eyes darting to her hands before back to him, "If… if I'm honest - nothing looks familiar. But not just because I, uhm, have amnesia," She rushes to say, just as this very thought crosses his mind.

"I mean," Sakura looks nervous to speak, and Steve stops walking. She turns to him, words on the ip of her tongue and a question in her eye, but Steve looks at her seriously before placing a hand on her shoulder.

The pink-haired woman beside him seems to hold herself back from flinching at the unexpected contact, but Steve can feel when she relaxes under his hand. The question is still in her gaze.

"Whatever you need to say - if it'll help us get you your memory back, don't be afraid to tell me, Sakura," His tone is assured, and he can only hope that Sakura is willing to be as open with him as possible. It'll only make everything easier.

She holds his gaze, and Steve can tell she is considering his words. Sakura seems to come to a conclusion - a positive one, thankfully - as she continues in a more subdued tone, "The… the t-technology, here," The word seems near-foreign on her tongue, Steve notes, "It doesn't even… nothing is registering. There are things that feel familiar, and things I can mostly recognize, and…"

Sakura trails off, struggling to find the right words for only a moment. But she seems to find them, and says, "Wherever I'm from… it's wildly different from this place, Steve."

Steve slowly removes his hand from her shoulder, furrowing his brow slightly as he takes in Sakura's decisive statement. Part of him wants to say she's simply from a less-developed country, and anyone there would be astounded at the technological advancements surrounding them as they speak.

But part of him knows it's never really that simple.

Sakura crosses her arms in front of her, eyes leaving his form to watch a group of agents - with their nods and then salutes and then non-reactions - pass by. The little bit of unfiltered, honest vulnerability she has just shown Steve seems to have made her nervous again.

He debates, internally, how to respond as they continue their journey through the winding halls of the helicarrier. They are just passing the main eating area, filled with buzzing conversations and the clinking of metal, when he decides on what to say. He tries to keep his tone clipped and impersonal, knowing that leaving anything else offers others the opportunity to pity him. That's not something he needs.

"I was born in 1918. Crashed in the Arctic in '45, stayed frozen for 70 years. Not much was the same when I woke up. People, places, how you went about your day… It was all different."

Sakura's eyes are focused intently on his profile, but Steve purposefully hasn't looked her way, choosing to look forward and continue their gradual advancement through the ship. He really hopes she isn't aware of his story already. It's embarrassing enough to say it, and makes feel Steve as if he's reciting a plaque set underneath an exhibit detailing the unbelievable rise and fall (and rise, he supposes) of _Captain America._

Not Steve Rogers.

"…I'm sorry."

Steve doesn't realize his body has tensed until Sakura's voice makes his shoulders relax and fists unclench. There is very little pity in her voice, and a great deal of understanding. The silence between them is more comfortable, now.

They reach the area of the helicarrier that contains the expansive labs and research areas, and Steve stumbles through unsure explanations of what the people around them are doing. Those people are trying to track the cube, he thinks, uh- Yeah, there's a map on that screen. Those other guys are… they're also looking at a map. Ok, then, they're… measuring…

Steve gives up on trying to offer explanations when Sakura begins to laugh lightly at his perplexed expression. He can only offer a mumbled apology, that she shakes off with the wave of a hand. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops as her eyes are drawn to something ahead of them. Steve follows her gaze to see Agent Romanoff standing in front of a specific lab, staring in with a slight smirk.

"Agent," Steve starts, stepping towards the red-haired woman. She acknowledges him without a glance, offering a sharp nod, her attention still focused on whatever is occurring within the room ahead of her.

Steve glances in quickly, vaguely noting Sakura and Natasha greeting each other, only to tense up as he sees Tony _purposefully_ aggravating a unsure-looking Bruce.

Bruce. The only man, that Steve knows of, that turns into an uncontrollable green giant when aggravated.

Steve feels a migraine coming on.

He makes a move to step in, immediately, unafraid to confront Stark's ignorantly endangering attitude, but hesitates when he remembers the lost woman he's supposed to be guiding around.

He turns over his shoulder to face the two women behind him, one who meets his gaze with the cool raise of a brow, the other who tilts her head ever-so-slightly in question.

Natasha can seemingly sense the obvious internal debate facing Steve - he was assigned to help Sakura out b _ut there's also the problem of a maybe-Hulk maybe-transforming behind him_ \- and sends him a silent nod. Steve sends a grateful one back, gaze returning to Sakura's curious one. His body has blocked her from seeing in to the situation occurring behind him.

"I, ah… I've got to ask Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner a couple questions. Uhm, we can pick the tour up after…? I'll find you, and we can- I can finish showing you around. I'm sorry, Sakura," He says, sincerely, knowing he's probably the person she is most comfortable around. Steve can tell that Sakura doesn't believe his excuse, but she thankfully doesn't question it for now.

Instead, she smiles at him and nods, and Steve sends her a grateful half-smile before he turns around and heads into the established workspace of the two scientists.

He can only hope there is still a workspace left.

* * *

Natasha held back an exasperated sigh, only her familiarity with the whims and egos of the men around her preventing it from being released. Years of working at S.H.I.E.L.D., and days of working around the other members of their little hero-team have made her nearly desensitized.

Nearly.

But Natasha decides to let the boys work it out amongst themselves, and focuses her attention on the fidgeting woman beside her.

Fury placing some amount of trust in Sakura makes Natasha less suspicious of the girl, but there will not be a moment she lets down her entire guard. There are too many loose threads and unanswered questions for that.

Still, Nat can - at the very least - act welcoming to her, and she sends Sakura a smile, receiving a hesitant one in return. She takes in the uncomfortable set of the pink-haired woman's shoulders, the tiredness of her gaze, and… the fact she is wearing the same clothing she arrived in.

Natasha sighs audibly this time, clucking her tongue slightly.

"Ok, let's get you some different clothes. Ones that stretch a bit more, preferably," Sakura nods enthusiastically at this, and Natasha smiles slightly at her eagerness to get out of the worn, dirty pant-blouse combo.

Nat isn't one for very much small talk, so they head towards the storage area in silence. She opens the password-locked door with quick fingers, chuckling under her breath at Sakura's whispered "wow" at the sight of the massive room, stocked wall-to-wall with everyday supplies for those onboard. It's really nothing compared to the weapon storage area.

But Natasha stays quiet, instead moving to the wall made up of sliding panel doors and electronic screens. They open with the press of a button, to shelves filled with carefully-folded, crisp uniforms. The ones in front of them are for S.H.I.E.L.D. employees specifically, so Natasha flicks the screen, allowing the shelves to rotate until they arrive at the uniforms intended for the Black Widow.

She glances at Sakura, who quickly shuts her open jaw with an embarrassed look. Everything seems to impress the pink-haired woman, easily, a fact that Natasha files away into her ever-increasing observations of the girl. Combat-trained, amnesiac, unknown powers, unfamiliar with modern technology, appeared from the Tesseract…. _Loki_ probably has a less complicated backstory, she thinks wryly.

"This is all mine. I think we're around the same size, so just choose whichever you'd like," Natasha says, thumbing through some of the folded bodysuits mildly. Sakura looks at her with a small, eager smile and replies, "Thank you," before stepping closer to pick through the clothing.

It takes only a moment for something to catch her eye, it seems, as she kneels down to grab something from the very bottom shelf. Natasha can't help but laugh when she sees the chosen piece.

"A lot of people here like the whole monochromatic thing, but I had to say no to wearing something the same colour as my hair," She says, taking in the deep maroon bodysuit, similar to hers in the top and pants, but with a mid-thigh length leather skirt overlayed. The extra layer appears useless, but Natasha knows it is there to hide more weapons than humanly necessary.

Sakura looks to her, asking silently if her choice is alright, and Natasha nods to appease the excited look in her eye, "Go ahead, it's yours." The younger girl (she thinks the pink-haired woman _must_ be younger) stands up quickly, sending her a wide smile and a genuine, "Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff."

Natasha accepts the gratitude with the vague wave of a hand, but her attention shifts when she feels a dull buzz on her wrist. She looks to the device there, and realizes it is a message from Nick.

'Thor's given us all he knows. Head in.'

His vague phrasing doesn't hide the meaning of his words, and Natasha inhales deeply before she lets out a silent breath. She pastes a smile on her face before she looks to the girl in front of her.

"Sorry for the repeat, but I've got to go. Director Fury needs me for something. I can walk you to your room, though, and you can get changed and wait for Steve to grab you," Natasha explains, shutting the panel to the clothing storage and leading them out of the room, "Not that we don't trust you on your own, but-"

"But you don't trust me on my own. Not yet," Sakura finishes, and Natasha can't help but smirk at the frankness in her town. She's glad Sakura is smart enough to know her little tour guides aren't just there for sightseeing purposes, but as safeguards.

She hopes Sakura doesn't turn out to be bad, because she's starting to like the girl.

"Not yet," Natasha affirms, and they are silent again for the rest of their walk.

* * *

The outfit isn't nearly as squeaky as she was expecting it to be.

No, wait- Sakura rubs her calves together. No squeak at all. Huh.

Wherever she is, another place or time or world, they have a knack for making shiny leather outfits entirely silent.

And it is _absolutely_ more comfortable than the things Loki put her in, Sakura notes as she twists and turns in the bathroom the mirror. The colour is nice, too. She thinks it suits her.

But there is only so much time Sakura wants to devote to looking at herself, so she turns the light off and enters the muted bedroom. It's been about 20 minutes since Agent Romanoff dropped her off, and she can't help the antsy feeling developing in her stomach. There is no windows in the room, and the dull grey walls are starting to remind her a little too much of the walls of the interrogation rooms.

She worries her lip between her teeth, knowing that she is supposed to stay in the room unless she has an escort. It's more of an indirect order, honestly.

But…

But she hasn't eaten yet, right?

Yeah, no one can fault her for wandering the halls in search of food. And no one could know she's memorized the route to the cafeteria. No harm, no foul, she assures herself.

And she assures herself it is _not_ suspicious glances she throws either way when leaving her room. No, she is _not_ checking that the coast is clear.

Absolutely not.

Sakura moves quickly and silently, not entirely sure what her final destination is intended to be. She doesn't know the passcodes to get into the more high-security areas, nor does she really want to go to the lab where Steve was… asking questions.

Except-

Steve is in front of her when she rounds the corner, sending glances she would _definitely_ classify as suspicious in either direction before entering a dimly-lit hallway. She hesitates for only a moment before following with quiet footsteps, knowing she should probably just go find some food. Her curiosity betrays her.

Sakura watches in fascination as Steve _pries open a goddamn door,_ and holds her breath when he turns ti stare directly at the patch of shadows Sakura has hidden herself in. That same breath is released soundlessly when he turns back around and enters what seems to be a large storage area.

God, she should really just turn back around and pretend she didn't see anything. She can feel her adrenaline begin to rise, seeing Steve jump up and onto a metal walkway before disappearing around a corner.

Sakura curses under her breath, hoping she's got a strong enough understanding of her power as she directs in to her legs and feet. She crouches for a brief moment, before leaping and landing - silently, thank god - on the same walkway.

She is careful not to rattle the metal under her feet as she heads in the direction Steve traveled, sticking to the shadows once more when she sees his still figure in front of a set of boxes placed on a table. Knowing he is unaware of her presence, Sakura steps forward slightly, obtaining an unobstructed view of the content of the box as Steve lifts the lid.

In it, a set of weapons and mask sit, all in matching matte black shades. This seems to upset the Captain, as his entire body stiffens and he looks up and to his left. The discovery means little to Sakura, but for it to affect Steve so visibly, it must-

"Sakura?"

"Fuck."

* * *

Steve ignores her blunt curse, his pulse beating through his ears acting as a distraction.

He cannot… no, no, he can.

He can absolutely believe S.H.I.E.L.D. has been messing with stuff they shouldn't have. They pulled the Tesseract from the ocean, so it's pretty obvious they're operating on less-than-oustanding morals.

"How did you get— you shouldn't have followed me," He finds himself saying, but isn't really able to be as upset as he probably should be at having Sakura going after him. The goddamn HYDRA weapon he now holds in his grasp is a far more troubling matter.

Sakura seems to sense his half-hearted anger, as her eyes are trained on the weapon in his hands. She doesn't cut corners when she asks, "What does that… what does it mean?"

Steve's jaw clenches as the disgust stewing in his stomach rises, and he responds tensely, "It means S.H.I.E.L.D. had other intentions." He advances forward, pausing only as he reaches Sakura's side. Her eyes have darkened at his serious reply, and he's grateful, for a brief moment, that she is able to pick up on things rather easily.

The less time he wastes explaining, the better.

Steve thinks for a moment, before he says decidedly, "…Follow me."

He walks with quick, purposeful steps towards the lab, feeling Sakura closely at his heels.

He feels so stupid, _naive_ to think for a moment that S.H.I.E.L.D. were operating with only the best interest in mind. No, their interest took priority. And as that interest involves meddling in HYDRA weaponry, it isn't one that Steve can stand back and ignore.

He can hear Fury and Tony speaking as they near the lab, recognizing the latter's voice asking, "And what exactly is Phase 2?" Steve enters without hesitating, throwing down the HYDRA weapon and announcing that as Phase 2.

"Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me," He says, clenching his teeth as Fury steps forward to offer some ingenue excuse about gathering information-

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony interrupts, sliding down from his seated position on the table. He turns a screen around so the rest of the room can take in the blueprints of weapons assembling themselves on the computer.

It makes Steve's blood boil.

Tony's serious, cutting tone is directed solely at the director, as he says, "What were you lying?"

* * *

Sakura finds herself lost, again.

Not physically, this time. But the sudden rush of discoveries and accusations and pointed tones seem to be falling in to place all at once, and she can only stand back and observe as the tension in the room rises drastically.

From what she's gathered through their inclusion in her interrogation questions, and the poison in the voices of those that speak it's name, HYDRA was a very, very bad group. A group that stands for everything S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't.

So for the organization to be using their technology… it isn't a good thing.

A rudimentary, simple conclusion, but it is the only one she can reach with all the unanswered questions rattling around in her mind. Thor and Agent Romanoff enter, then, and this only seems to escalate the situation, as the red-haired woman's… _suggestion_ towards Bruce leaving is not very well received.

Sakura feels a throbbing begin in the centre of her forehead, but her small grunt of pain is ignored as the confrontation gets more and more intense. People begin to talk over one another, voices rising, bodies moving closer together in hopes of intimidating the other.

There is a lull in the arguments that is quickly filled when Steve and Tony begin trading sharp, deceptively-calm remarks, the tone of their voice and the burning of their eyes betraying the obvious discord between the two.

Sakura dully notes that she felt a similar way when face-to-face with the Tesseract, but she is having trouble identifying how that connects to this moment, or the root cause of the pain in general. It is far too severe, far too focused a pain to simply be as a result of the bickering around her.

Steve's voice momentarily cuts through the pulsating in her head, "…ut on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Whoever responds to this is unintelligible, as her ears have begun to buzz and the static in her forehead makes her gaze swim and stomach churn.

Sakura is forced to shut her eyes, and she thinks she may have let out a loud noise of pain, as there is a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. It's gone the next, distracted by the beeping of something that sounds, to Sakura, as if it is very far away.

Eyes closed, images flicker against her eyelids, moving so fast they are hard to grasp.

There is a rush of light, and then distinct flashes of colour. A large figure, dark energy, pain, _the buzzing in her ears getting louder and louder_ , stars burning, planets dissolving, shapes breaking apart then coming together-

Then, finally, a singular stone. Beating with a bright, orange light.

And then the world around her is exploding, and Sakura finds herself hitting a wall.

* * *

 **/an/**

sorry this is a little later than other updates ! it's my longest chapter yet - double some earlier ones ! - and i needed everything _in_ this chapter to be _in_ this chapter (if that makes sense hah). thank you for the follows and favourites and reviews - a special thanks to rimk10 and musicmiss18, whose reviews motivated me greatly! they really do make a difference in my writing, so please drop a review if you enjoyed the chapter!

also - would people be interested in a kingsman x naruto crossover ? i've had a concept floating through my mind that i'm really interested in exploring, and i think would work well in the kingsman universe. plus eggsy x sakura sounds like the fuckin _bomb_.

thanks for reading !


	7. my sweet lord

_ah,_

 _but it takes so long, my lord._

* * *

When her eyes open, Sakura isn't sure if she blacked out for a few moments or if the smoke around her is the cause of her disorientation.

The pain in her forehead has dulled, and the buzzing in her ears can now be blamed on the explosion that has just rattled the floor, broken the glass, sent them all flying.

The smoke clears enough for Sakura to see Thor and Director Fury near her, Steve and Tony stumbling to stand near the door, and Bruce and Agent Romanoff nowhere to be found. Sakura pushes herself up to her knees, flinching a bit when a large hand wraps around her bicep.

She calms, though, when she realizes it is simply the long-haired blond man helped her to her feet. Her throat feels too dry to verbally thank him, so she can only send him a grateful nod. The serious set of the tall man's jaw stays in place as he acknowledges her gratitude with a quick jerk of his head.

"God- fuckin' hell," Fury's voice rings out through the beeping of alarms and rush of noise around them, and Sakura dully realizes that Steve and Tony have rushed out of the room, leaving the three of them left.

Fury's eye makes contact with her and Thor, and he curses again, before he sends quick commands over a device in his ear. He walks past the two with quick movements, out the door behind them. Sakura taps Thor's hand to let him know she can walk on her own, and they hasten after Fury.

His voice is levelled, but pushed through clenched teeth, as he continues to bark commands over whatever communication device he is using. Agents are rushing through the halls, clearing smoke from their vision. She hears coughing and shouting and alarms still going off, and possibly tastes blood in the back of her throat. Sakura might have a concussion, from her unobstructed collision with a wall, but there isn't really time to think of that right now.

Fury comes to a halt, muttering angrily to whomever he is talking to, and Sakura nearly bumps in to Thor when he, too, comes to a stop unexpectedly.

She takes this moment to try and reign in her breathing, to try and create a calm in her body to combat the chaos all around her. Her eyes rove around the hall they have stopped in, trying to evaluate the situation.

They pause on a man, laying, two agents pressed in tightly around his lower half.

There is a jagged piece of metal, possibly a broken wall panel, sticking out of his upper thigh. There is little blood - _good, meaning the entry was clean and it hasn't been moved or pulled at and from what she can see it may have just missed the femoral artery_ —

"God dammnit," Fury's dark voice breaks her out of… whatever was just rushing through her mind. A voice almost-foreign, in a clinical tone and _god dammit_ is right _-_ there are so many things going on around her, she can deal with unidentified, medically-knowledgeable voices later.

And so Sakura pushes that to the back of her mind and focuses on what the Director is saying in front of her. He directs agents to the detention centre - to _Loki_ \- before turning to them.

"Banner is compromised. And nearly has Agent Romanoff cornered. They're in the lower hanger bay. Subdue the Hulk if possible. Understood?" Thor's response is simply a vague rumbling from his chest, and Sakura nods sharply. Fury stares at the two for one hard moment, before turning and rushing off into the main bridge area.

Thor sets off first, seeming to know where they must go.

He walks with large strides and restrained anger, and Sakura has to push a little bit of energy to her legs to keep up. She is vaguely aware of what… or _who_ , she supposes, the Hulk is.

But as she takes in the furrow of Thor's brows and the clenching of his fists, she's not sure if she understands _what_ the Hulk is capable of.

There is a distant rumbling that grows closer and closer with each entryway they pass through, and Sakura nearly trips over her feet when she realizes it is the roaring of the Hulk that makes the ground underneath them tremble. Agents seem to part as she and Thor head towards the source of the disturbance, sending the two looks of awe and fear that make Sakura grumble under her breath.

 _Now_ they acknowledge her. Only as she's heading off to fight some massive, indestructible alter-ego.

They weave and duck until they arrive at a considerably dimly-lit area, filled with pipes and metal walkways and flickering fluorescent lights. Thor stops abruptly, holding his hand up to signal Sakura to do the same.

He tilts his head to the side, gaze remaining forward but words directed to her, "You are committed to this fight, yes?"

Sakura doesn't hesitate as she responds, "Yes." Thor's mouth quirks up slightly, but his visage darkens again as they near their destination.

There is a path of destruction in their immediate sight, electricity jumping out of broken wires and along shattered glass. And then there is the sound of something slamming, and then a _massive_ thump and the sound of crinkling metal.

Thor decides to give up on the stealth tactic, as he bursts forward impossibly fast and darts around a corner. Sakura pushes after him, rounding the corner just as Thor slams into a gigantic, raging, green… man? _Bruce_ , a voice reminds her. _That_ is Bruce.

Sakura hears heavy breathing, turns sharply, darting to the side of a shaken-up Agent Romanoff. The woman nods her head in thanks as Sakura helps her lean up against the piped wall around her, but then Romanoff waves her hand vaguely in the direction of the fallen men.

Sakura hesitates for a moment, concerned about the other woman's heavy breathing and striken appearance, but Romanoff only grunts out a sharp, "Go." She nods seriously, leaping through the large hole in the wall across from them.

Bruce- Hulk, _whatever_ , stands there, snorting and grunting loudly as Thor slowly pushes himself to stand. The blond's eyes dart to her, and then back to the Hulk. Sakura slinks behind a nearby crate, steps unheard below the panicked running of agents around them and the noises of the man in front of them.

There is a tense silent for only a moment, before the Hulk stumbles forward slightly and lets out a deep roar that breaks the temporary pause.

He darts forward, swinging a massive fist at the blond man, who dodges the wild punch and returns with a strike that lands on the jaw of the larger man. This only seems to enrage him further, and he spins before bringing a clenched fist down on Thor.

Thor catches this with his forearm, bringing his free arm up to wrap around the wrist of his opponent. He is holding him off, but Sakura can tell it is straining him - temporary.

Sakura decides to give up on the stealth thing, too.

She flashes forward, fist coated in blue energy, as Thor's attempts at verbally reaching out to the man under the beast is rebuked. She reaches them just as Hulk begins to lift the blond man up slightly, pulling his fist back for another attack.

It shocks Sakura, herself, how far the massive green man flies when her punch lands on the side of his head. He crashes into a row of crates behind him, letting out a guttural roar of pain and anger.

Sakura swallows the sudden lump in her throat, glancing down at her hands before looking to the man beside her. Thor stares at her mutely for a moment, catching his breath with hands on bent knees, before standing up with a large, booming laugh. "Lady Sakura!" He says through breathless chuckles, "I saw your squabble with the Captain of America, but I did not think you—"

His words are cut off, and the wind is knocked out of Sakura, as the Hulk swats her away and punches Thor through a stack of crates identical to the ones he was previously knocked into. Sakura pushes energy to her fingers to halt the skidding of her body across the concrete floor, wincing as the rough surface drags only slightly at her exposed fingertips. Her clothing doesn't tear or bunch up, and she sends a silent thank you to the red-headed agent for gifting them to her.

Sakura takes only a moment to catch her breath, re-evaluating her assessment of the green man - his raw power is blatant, but the mass of his body does not slow him down at all, something she was hoping on. She isn't sure how much of Bruce's intelligence bleeds through to his… other guy, but she really hopes he is as stupid as he is big.

In this time, the Hulk stumbles through the hole he has punched Thor through, and Sakura curses when she hears another large crash - but still too small to make her think Thor has managed a hit.

She pushes herself to stand, wincing at the pain poking around near her ribs, but putting this to the back of her mind.

Sakura dashes forward, gritting her teeth at the path of destruction and Thor-shaped holes in front of her. She pushes herself to move faster, run harder when the Hulk's thunderous roar echoes through the room. She notes the sound of metal dragging across the ground, gradually getting closer, but focuses on locating where the battle has shifted to.

Sakura comes across the two men just as the Hulk leaps into the air, towards a kneeling Thor with hand outstretched. A large metal hammer shoots into his hand, bursting through a pile of boxes - Sakura's eyes dart between the angle of Thor's swing and the trajectory of the Hulk's jump before coming to a quick decision.

Thor's hammer makes sickening contact with the jaw of the green man at the same moment Sakura pushes herself into the air. She flips head over foot to build up momentum and velocity, her heel a shining blue beacon as it comes down upon the chest of the Hulk. She only cringes a little bit at the contact, simultaneously pushing herself off of his pectorals to land beside the tense blond-haired man. The Hulk lays on the broken body of a plan (that's what Steve said those flying metal machines were called), huffing through his nose.

Everyone is still for the briefest of moments - the Hulk, recovering, and Thor and Sakura, anticipating. Sakura bites her lip when she sees the darkened skin around where her foot made impact. She titls her head towards Thor, asking in a hushed voice, "I didn't hit him too hard, did I?"

The Hulk pushes himself to stand at that moment, swinging his head around roughly, spit flying out of his unclenched jaw. He looks directly at them, then, before his entire body shakes in rage and he releases his deepest, angriest roar yet.

Thor spins his hammer in his hand, answering plainly, "Not hard enough."

The altered man in front of them grabs the wing of the plane between massive green fingers, tearing it from the body of the machine and throwing it as if it is weightless. Thor and Sakura both dash forward, the former sliding under the flying wing on his knees, while the latter leapt over it, hoping to clear the head of the Hulk as well.

Sakura's calculations turned out to be incorrect, as she did _not_ easily sail over the tall, green man - instead, she finds a painfully tight grip latching on to her calf, engulfing it completely within green fingers. She gasps, out of shock and slight pain, body jolting uncomfortably as her forward momentum comes to an abrupt halt.

Sakura curls herself inward, instinctively, panicked hands grappling at the hand clenched around her that is slowly tightening. She can almost feel the bones of her leg groaning in protest, and an undignified yelp leaves her mouth. Sakura estimates she has about seven seconds before her calf snaps.

On the sixth second, there is the distinct, metallic swoosh of Thor's hammer flying through the air, and the Hulk turns to the side expectantly, grip still tight on her leg. That grip loosens once the green man tries to catch the hammer, and Sakura falls to the ground with a swift thud as he is sent soaring.

Sakura grits her teeth, placing her hands over her to calf to check for any fractures or breaks. A breeze goes past, rustling her hair, and she watches Thor rush the Hulk, who is breaking concrete underfoot trying to lift the hammer. Thor lands a knee-kick on the side of his head, at the same time Sakura deems her leg usable - bruised, sore, but useable.

She sprints forward, just as Thor snatches his hammer from the ground - _what_ is that thing _made_ of - and swings around the neck of the massive man. They grapple, and Sakura halts immediately in front of them, weighing her options.

A punch to the head or torso will send them flying, but Thor will get the brunt of the impact.

Legs it is, then.

Sakura darts ahead, lowering her posture and pushing power to surround her entire left leg (ensuring she doesn't use the one with Hulk-prints on them). She weaves around the grappling duo, dodging any thrashing thumbs, before striking out quickly and making contact with the back of the Hulk's colossal green calf.

 _Karma_ , Sakura thinks with a self-indulgent smirk.

He crumples immediately, releasing another enraged roar that shakes the ground under them, makes her pulse beat faster, and wipes the smirk off of her face.

Thor leans his entire body weight backwards, hands clenched around the handle of his hammer, in what she recognizes as an attempt to incapacitate their teammate. Hulk tries to reach around and pull the blond man off, but quickly abandons this.

Instead, _he jumps through the fucking ceiling._

Sakura lets out an exasperated groan, swiping her hands over her eyes before jumping up and after them. She knows her energy isn't drawn from some infinite pool, and every step she takes makes her leg scream in protest.

This needs to end, now.

She lands in the room above them, and immediately has to duck under the soaring body of her blond ally. Sakura doesn't have time to look back and ensure he is alright, as the Hulk spots her tense form and charges her. The pink-haired woman learns from her previous mistakes, rolling to the side to dodge him this time rather than attempting another flying leap.

The Hulk's fists pound the ground where she stood moments before, crumbling away another section of concrete floor.

Thor lets out a pained groan, and Sakura's eyes dart to his prone body, concerned. This little distraction costs her.

In the time it took for Sakura to locate Thor, the Hulk has jumped around the hole in the floor, swatting her away without a second thought. Sakura rushes to cushion her head with her energy, hoping it takes away some of the sting. She still hits the wall full-force, head bouncing painfully off of metal, leaving her ears ringing and skull pounding. Still in-tact, luckily.

There is the pounding of feet on concrete, and Sakura pulls her head up to watch, squinting through blurry vision to see the two men meet in the middle of the room. They grapple with each other's hands, at a stalemate for the briefest of moments.

But it is the Hulk's spectacular ability to dig his feet into the ground beneath them that gives him the upper hand. He crouches slightly, suddenly, lowering his and disrupting Thor's centre of balance. The Hulk uses this opportunity to lift the blond man off of his feet, swinging him up and above his head, to crash down on a metal table. It snaps underneath the force of Thor's landing.

Sakura pushes herself to stand, vision still swimming dangerously, trying to ground herself so she can return to the fight.

Grounding herself takes too long, she learns, as the Hulk picks Thor up with one hand, as if the large muscular blonde is completely weightless - and then tosses him purposefully in Sakura's direction. She pushes energy to her feet, planting herself, and catches her ally to the best of her ability; hoping to save him from the pounding headache and aching body she now suffers from.

His body arrives in her arms, and Sakura - luckily - only stumbles back slightly, kneeling down quickly to give Thor a chance to right himself and catch his breath. He pats her arm gratefully, but their attention soon returns to the heaving, huffing green man in front of them.

The Hulk knocks a cabinet out of his way, and stomps towards them with footsteps that leave cracks in the ground.

Before he reaches them, though, there is the sudden pounding of projectiles against the glass window behind the Hulk's form. The glass breaks soon after, and Sakura recognizes the bullets (another word learned from Steve) coming from a plane hovering in the air.

Thor grunts slightly, and is able to react quicker than she.

He pushes himself up and forward, wrapping a thick arm around her waist and launching the two of them to the side, out of the immediate range of the bullets. He places his body above hers, hands hovering near her head… in what she recognizes as an attempt to protect her.

Sakura feels her heart stutter slightly, thrown off by the sudden act of camaraderie.

Of trust.

The mighty roaring of the Hulk breaks her out of this realization - there is the pounding of feet, and then an unanticipated quiet.

Sakura gazes around Thor's arm, only to witness the Hulk leaping out of the window, and landing solidly on the plane. It swerves at the unexpected weight - she and Thor can only watch uselessly, breathlessly, as the Hulk tears the plane apart, dragging it lower and lower until it disappears from their sight.

The only sound, now, is their ragged breathing, distant gunshots, and the crackling of exposed wire.

* * *

And then there is a small, warm hand on his arm.

Thor turns his head quickly, the sudden touch surprising him slightly, and sees the pink-haired woman staring up at him in what he can only describe as amazement. She says, through heavy breaths, a rough, "Thank you."

The intensity of her words confuses him slightly, and he doesn't respond for a moment, pushing himself to stand and helping her up as well. He settles on, finally, "It is no bother. You are a worthy ally."

There is so falsities in his words. Though appearing under suspicious circumstances, and making the ignorant mistake of assisting his brother, the woman in front of him has seemingly devoted herself to gaining their trust and proving their misconceptions wrong. She fought valiantly at his side, no hesitancy or doubt entering her gaze for a moment.

She can be trusted to fight alongside them in this war.

And, for Thor, that trust is one that extends past the battlefield.

Her lip trembles slightly, the strength of her bright green gaze wavering for a brief second. It belies the youth of the woman, who has lived a mere fraction of his life. Her eyes look upon him so earnestly, bearing an uncanny similarity to a younge—

"Loki," Thor says, the calm of the moment breaking as his brother's visage crosses his mind. He vaguely remembers Fury sending Agent Coulson to ensure his brother stays within his cell. Realizes it is only humans that guard him in the first place.

It is a death wish, to send mere mortals to restrain the likes of Loki.

"My brother. He will be attempting to escape, surely. We must stop him," He offers Sakura as explanation, grabbing her arm firmly in an attempt to ground the shaken girl once more. Her eyes narrows slightly, and he can see her processing his words.

"They're not safe," She says, and Thor marches forward, nodding in agreement, "No. They are not."

The two set off immediately, Thor holding out his hand and drawing Mjolnir into it.

He follows a path he remembers travelling twice before - and twice before, has he stopped immediately outside the cell containing his brother. He could not look Loki in the face. Knowing what he had done, what he intended to do. To know he had failed Loki, allowing him to fall down such a path.

He couldn't look him in the eye, before.

Now… now, he is angry. He and Sakura weave through rushing agents, Thor's thoughts distracting him from the chaos unfolding around them. Loki courts chaos, beds it, and Thor cannot stand by and let more innocent lives suffer as a result of his brother's careless actions.

He feels a sense of resoluteness as they reach the detention centre, bursting through unlocked, damaged doors until they finally reach the area that holds Loki. Bodies lay, unmoving, and this ignites Thor's simmering anger until it is a rage he cannot smother.

Thor pauses when he reaches the doorway, stumbling slightly. He can feel his pulse hammering loudly in his veins at the sight of Loki, cell door sliding open, smirking madly. A guttural, "No!" leaves his lips, and he thrusts himself forward, intent at keeping his fellow god contained.

He realizes the mistake of his haste when he simply phases through a duplicate of his brother, landing carelessly on the cold, metal floor of his cell. The anger is still flowing through him, and his movements are clumsy as he pushes himself to stand.

Loki is still in front of him, hands crossed beside his back and head tilted mockingly. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki says snidely, only enraging him further, and Thor lashes out with his hammer, determined on breaking through the glass standing in his way.

Except - the glass merely cracks.

Large devices on the side of the cell shift up suddenly, and the whole room jolts. Thor is confounded at this, unused to the power of his hammer being rebuked so surely. Breaking out won't be so easy, then.

He glances around the cell, anger pounding in his ears but keeping up the stunned facade as he scans the area for his companion. Her footsteps have always been utterly silent, but he knows she is in the same room as he. Observing. Hopefully, devising a plan.

Loki, too, is thrown off at the action of his hammer meeting glass. He recovers quickly, though, chuckling under his breath - at Thor's misfortune, no doubt. Thor is at a loss for words, the sight of his brother's cold gaze and the mocking twitch of his lips a jagged reminder of what Loki has twisted in to.

This is not the brother he grew up with.

He can only breathe deeply, trying to reign in his scattered emotions, and watches as Loki saunters over to what Thor assumes to be the control panel for his cell. "The humans believe us immortal," The raven-haired man begins, "should we test that?"

There is a grunt, suddenly, from the man in black that has been assisting Loki. He and his brother both turn their attention towards the noise, and Thor feels a modicum of relief at seeing the agent from S.H.I.E.L.D - the Son of Coul - standing above a prone body with an intimidatingly-large weapon in his hands.

This relief is quickly squashed at the realization that Agent Coulson is simply that - an agent. A human.

The suited man steps forward, and says in a much-too-polite tone, "Move away please." Thor feels something dropping from his nose, but ignores it as he watches the confrontation in front of him. There is a raw, heavy feeling in his gut that something will go terribly wrong.

"You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer," Agent Coulson says, monotony leaving his tone to let taunting take its place. "Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?" The weapon in his grasp begins to whir, glowing faintly, and Coulson steps forward resolutely.

Thor mentally curses the man, who doesn't seem to truly realize who- what he is taunting. If he could get out there, face his brother, god to god, then—

The next few moments happen so very suddenly, it is only due to his abilities that he witnesses the rapid events that occur in front of him.

He wishes he didn't.

A second Loki appears at Coulson's back, sceptre raised, poised to strike with deadly accuracy. A flash of pink seemingly-materializes between the two men, back directly against that of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, blue-covered fists similarly raised to block the strike.

But his brother, as always, has thought ahead.

Sakura's punch flies through gold-tinted air, revealing it to be simply another illusioned version of the green god. The Loki in front of Coulson - the _real_ one - darts forward, sceptre realizing into his grasp and snarl twisting his mouth into an ugly smirk.

He can only watch, utterly useless, as Loki attacks with possibly the most force Thor has ever seen come from his brother's hands.

It is a force that pushes the sceptre through the heart of Coulson, first.

And then through.

Until blood-tipped gold glints mockingly out of Sakura's chest.

Thor barely recognizes his own voice, deep and guttural, as he releases a devastated, "NO!" Unable to stop his body from darting forward and impacting the broken glass, but it is useless.

 _He_ is useless.

The glow resonating from Loki's sceptre brightens for a brief moment when it glides through Sakura. The gargled noise she makes when it appears on the other side, however, pushes this observation completely from Thor's mind.

A distraught yell rumbles in his throat as Loki, with the utmost pleasure, pushes the sceptre further into the two, twisting his wrist with particular cruelty.

Blood leaks from Coulson's lips. Sakura lets out a cry of pain. Thor feels as if he is nothing more than an observer to this vicious performance.

Loki pulls his sceptre out, the sound of it tearing through flesh once more making Thor's stomach twist. He is no newcomer to the throes of battle, but there is a deceptive calmness in the action that is decidedly chilling.

Coulson and Sakura crumple to the ground, the former landing with his back to the wall and the latter remaining curled in on herself, hands grappling at her chest in a vain attempt to halt the advancement of her injury. Thor has never felt more contempt for his brother.

Loki glares at the two for a moment, his gaze cold and guarded, before he turns and advances towards the control panel. The only noise in the room are his slow, measured footsteps and Thor's rushed, unsteady breathing.

Loki takes note of the anger and despair on his face, and relishes in this. He gestures vaguely to the blood staining the tip of his sceptre, half-smiling in a way that makes it seem like a mere inconvenience rather than an act of pure ruthlessness.

But, to his surprise, no mocking quips leave Loki's mouth.

Instead, he silently presses a button that opens up the very floor beneath him, the passing of sky and cloud and land now visible below them. The sound of rushing air fills the unnerving silence of the room. Loki's hand hovers over the switch that will undoubtedly send him careening out of the sky in this unbreakable glass cage.

Thor steps back slightly, gaze solely trained on the man he had been raised alongside. Fought alongside, bled alongside, dreamt alongside. The eyes looking back at him reflect none of this. They are _not_ Loki's eyes.

There is a shuffling from the ground, and the sight of Sakura pushing herself up on her hands with shaky, trembling arms. Agent Coulson is unmoving from his position leant against the wall, breathing shallowly. Sakura's head lolls to the side slightly, before she lifts it and looks towards Thor. He forces himself not to look away.

Despite the weakness of her body and the literal bleeding of her heart, her gaze is still sharp. There is some conviction in it that Thor does not understand, only seeing another victim of his brother's manic actions and his own inability to stop them.

Another failure.

Thor is still looking into piercing green eyes when the world around him drops and twists and turns and he begins falling from the sky.

* * *

Sakura is dying.

Her pulse is beating incessantly in her ears, her fingers shake as they press uselessly against the tear in her chest, and black begins to creep into her vision. She lets out a whimper when Thor, and the cage surrounding him, drops out of sight. She watches him fall, useless.

She turns her head slightly, taking in the man that has suffered the same fate as she. Agent Coulson, one of the more familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. agents - he was involved in her interrogation. One of the most sympathetic ones, she remembers. His tone was always serious and blunt, yes, but there was always a kindness in his brown eyes.

And she has failed him.

She feels so utterly stupid, thinking that jumping in front of Loki's attack would prevent it. No, that man - _god_ , her mind supplies - thinks too far ahead and acts with too much caution to allow that to happen. She has been outsmarted; and now she, and a man she could not protect, are dying.

The pain in her forehead returns the same moment Loki moves away from the stand that sent Thor tumbling out of the ship, completely ignoring the two fallen bodies nearby. This angers Sakura, but she is too focused on trying to prolong what is left of her life to retaliate.

Coulson, on the other hand, finds it within himself to say, "You're going to lose." This stops Loki in his tracks, and he turns to the agent, asking, "Am I?" Coulson remarks that it is in his nature to lose, but Sakura is having a hard time paying attention to the conversation, as the black in her vision is increasing rapidly and the blood from her chest refuses to slow down.

Coulson makes a comment that seems to prod at a soft spot for the green god, as he grits his teeth before his gaze shifts and lands on Sakura. A cruel smile spreads across his face, and he walks towards the pink-haired woman, coming to crouch directly in front of her.

"Ah, Sakura," She sneers at the light-hearted tone of his jab, her entire body shaking with the effort it takes to hold herself up and keep pressure over her injury. She lets out a grunt of pain when long, cold, fingers trap her chin and force her to look up at the raven-haired man in front of her.

He tuts slightly, before saying in a mock-sympathetic voice, "You would have been a wonderful ally, hm? Instead, you follow ignorant leaders and listen to the nonsense they spout, believing it will somehow lead you down the right path."

Sakura says nothing, staring at him venomously when he continues, "But you were wrong, my dear. You will die as you lived - purposeless." Loki releases her chin suddenly, the force of her head falling down making her skull pound and somehow intensifying the pain centred in her forehead. The green-clad god rises, pitiless stare trained on her weak self.

His next words come out as a near-hiss: "Now watch my back as I become ruler to this pitiful civilization."

White fills her vision, her forehead begins to burn, and Sakura only vaguely recognizes the sound of a weapon firing before the man in front of her is sent flying into, and through, a wall. Coulson's mild observation, "So that's what it does," is the last thing she hears before images and voices flash through her mind.

Honey-coloured hair and green robes and an all-knowing stare, the feeling of rocks pounding against skin and the sight of two silhouettes walking away from her. A well gradually being filled by raindrops, green light around pale hands, the human body deconstructing and constructing itself in front of her eyes.

And finally, a voice:

… _never stop medical treatment until the lives of their members have come to an end._

Sakura's body convulses, once, twice, before she feels as if she is dropped back in to it.

Her heart is still bleeding, her pulse still racing, but Agent Coulson is dying. Sakura pulls strength from nowhere, dragging her body towards the man whose life is slowly fading. She can't let that happen.

The modicum of energy it took Coulson to fire on Loki is gone, now. In its place is shallow breath, a still-bleeding wound and eyes that are clouding over.

Sakura lets her instincts, lets whatever… vision she just witnessed take over. Her hands know where to go, her mind knows what to analyze, her energy knows where to flow.

The sound of heavy footsteps entering the room, and harsh voices ringing out, does not break her from this. A palm resting on her shoulder does not break her from this. Fingers hesitating to grab at her hands, wary of the green light surrounding them, does not break her from this.

And Sakura, somehow, knows when her job is done.

She knows when to allow her energy to fade, when to allow her hands to drop.

And then, all she knows is darkness.

* * *

Steve pushes himself to stand, breathing harshly as an equally-exhausted Tony ambles into the doorway he has just tackled a man through.

There is no sense of accomplishment that fills Steve, as there sometimes is after a battle. Whatever they have just done does not change the fact there is a hole in the ship, attackers in their halls, and the possibility of Loki breaking free.

He moves over the metal walkway that still stands, he and Tony both giving themselves a moment to recover. There is more fighting to be done, surely.

But then the comm in his ear crackles to life, and there is some sort of resignation in whoever speaks. Director Fury, he recognizes.

"…Agent Coulson and Sakura are down." Steve's heart sinks, he and Tony making brief eye contact before they both look away. Steve tries to focus on his breathing, but his breath catches when there is a brief fumbling and yelling heard over the device, before Fury says, "Agent Coulson is… he's stable."

Steve can feel Tony's gaze land on him when nothing else is said over the speaker, and he thinks his heart travels from his stomach to his knees.

He only waits a moment more, before bringing his hand up and pushing to talk. He doesn't like the defeat in his own voice when he asks, "And Sakura's status?"

But the radio only crackyles.

No one answers.

* * *

 **/an/**

another pretty long chapter woopwoop ! i'm really nervous about writing fight scenes, but this was a lot of fun to do and i hope it turned out okay ! thank you for the support once again - all the reviews that were left for last chapter were so wonderful ! you make me all very happy ! if you enjoyed this chapter, please please leave a review!

if anyone is confused about the pain in her forehead and when she gains memories / abilities - there is a (i think) clear connection to when all these moments occur, and the two sorts of things that trigger it (ohoho). that connection will for sure be fleshed out and explained - whether that be by the end of this story, or in a possible sequel ;)

i'm beginning to write the eggsyxsaku fic (since there were some wonderful reactions to the idea), so i now have to split my time between the two fics. there will still for sure be regular updates to both, so don't worry!

thanks for reading! :)))


	8. you're a fine girl

_she could feel the ocean fall and rise,_  
 _she saw its ragin' glory._

* * *

He feels as if lead had filled up every inch of his body. Makes up his bones, flows through his veins, beats a dull rhythm in his chest.

There was a gaze set on him, he could feel it - not Stark, though. Tony wasn't looking at anybody. As frustrated as he felt, probably. Agent Hill, in the corner, looking to her leader for answers he probably didn't have.

But Fury's gaze was heavy and near-unreadable, as always. But there was probably a little bit of disappointment there. Steve deserved that.

The wet slap of something on the centre consoled drew his eyes up, to see that Fury had thrown down a set of blood-stained trading cards. With his beaming face and shiny blue suit on them. Steve couldn't look away.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," the Director's voice breaks through the tense silence, "But he is upstairs, walking around. Recovering. Expected to make a full recovery, actually." Steve picked up the card most-drenched in blood, hating the smile sent his way from a self long-forgotten. He can't help but feel some relief at Coulson's survival, but something holds him back from outright celebration.

And Fury keeps talking, and that relief shrinks further and further.

"Sakura used the last of her strength to heal him. Somehow. With previously-undisclosed abilities - a fact I'm willing to overlook," The one-eyed man's voice nears a drawl and Steve wants to punch him for talking about it so lackadaisically. "…She is currently unconscious. Low vitals, rejecting any blood transplants we attempt. Frankly, the odds of her making it are low."

Steve _knows_ that. He knows, _he knows_ , Fury doesn't- he hates hearing it aloud. It makes it realer and bleaker and… and just makes Steve angry.

Fury goes on, talking about the loss of communications on the ship, Thor and Bruce being lost, too, but Steve is still thinking about the girl upstairs that is dying. And then he gets sick of staring at the grin of a man long-forgotten, putting the card down just as Fury seems to direct his words to Steve particularly.

"…There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative," Steve's gaze travels to the genius. Tony doesn't look back. "The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

Tony fidgets a little, and Steve knows they feel the same way in that moment. Despite all their differences, despite what they value or don't, despite everything - they both failed. They were both supposed to be a part of this outstanding group of individuals, fighting on behalf of the earth, defeating those considered untouchable, protecting those in need of it.

And they couldn't protect a girl with no memories - no _obligations_ , who committed herself to a cause she had no debt to.

"Phil Coulson nearly died still believing in that idea, in heroes. Sakura… she will probably die. Not believing in these grand ideas, or the organization behind them, or even heroes. But believing in _us_." Tony pushes himself up from his seat, looking as if he may say something.

But, instead, he just walks away.

It's a temporary solution, Steve knows. There is only so much you can walk away from.

"Well… it's an old-fashioned notion," Fury says with a note of finality, crossing his arms behind his back. Steve's brow furrows, and he wishes he felt like yelling, thrashing, releasing all of his emotions in a way that resembles a burning fire.

But everything feels dulled down. He is exhausted, physically and emotionally, and his pain and anger only resemble the smouldering remains of a fire. Adrenaline is gone, replaced with guilt. Heavy and hard to stamp out.

Fury's gaze is on him again, but Steve has nothing to say to the other man. They are equally at fault for Coulson's injury and Sakura's… state. For sending her out to deal with forces she wasn't used to, and for not being there to stop those forces when she faced them head-on.

There is a sudden bustle of activity from just outside the room, and Agent Hill excuses herself quietly to see what it is about.

"Capt-"

"With all due respect, sir, I think you've said enough, for the moment," Steve cuts him off, his fists clenching in his lap, "And, for the moment, I don't believe myself fit of that title either." Fury sighs, and Steve just wants to run out of the room, but Tony already did that-

"Rogers. You aren't at fault here. No one is. Sakura could have, as far as we know, healed herself. She chose to help Coulson," the Director says, leaning forward to rest his hands on the table and stare purposefully at the blond-haired man. "She made a very selfless decision. Don't disregard that just so you can be angry at _something_."

Steve looks at the other man, looking into his singular eye to try and assess whatever laid within it. Fury's words made sense - he knew that - but at the sight of resigned acceptance in his gaze, Steve felt his frustration flare up again.

"I am angry that we sent this girl out in to the field despite her utter lack of involvement in this entire thing. She had no memories, no one else to turn to, and yet we still sent her out into some, some war because she was an asset-"

"Rogers, she _became_ involved the minute she appeared out of that wormhole." Fury's tone is harsher, now, a warning of sorts, but Steve didn't feel like listening to it.

"The minute she appeared she _had_ no choice! In case you forgot, she was taken, by that, that—" Steve knows his voice is rising, knows that Fury's eye is narrowing in annoyance, but he doesn't stop himself.

Instead, he is stopped by Agent Hill running in to the room, eyes wide and tablet clutched tightly in her hands.

"Director- sir," She is almost breathless, and Steve clenches his jaw at the odd excitement in her gaze. A misplaced emotion at a misplaced time, he thinks.

"We… we believe Sakura is healing herself."

Oh.

Not so misplaced, then.

* * *

Tony stares in undisguised intrigue - and maybe a _little_ bit of awe - at the unconscious woman in front of him. A nervous medic mumbles a question at him, but he dismisses them, the wave of his hand a silent command that soon leaves just he and Sakura in the room.

Her skin isn't deathly pale, her pulse is a constant beat, her breathing is steady, and she's _fucking glowing green_.

Shit.

He owes Banner fifty bucks.

Bruce was _sure_ that she was an alien-type thing from space - or from a different realm, whatever Thor's story was. Tony was _sure_ that she was just some enhanced super-human. There is a fluid, translucent blanket of green energy surrounding the pink-haired woman and Tony admits to himself, sourly, that he lost.

He can also admit to himself that he has completely no idea - for once - how she is doing what she's doing. The green light had burnt the fingertips of a medic trying to check Sakura's vitals earlier on, but it seemed to do nothing to the girl, other than wave gently around her and heal life-threatening, irreparable blood loss.

Tony let out a vague whine, bringing his hand up to rub over his tired eyes. He hated not understanding things. It made him feel like he was five years old again, right before he began memorizing the periodic table of elements.

There is a sudden gasp of breath and Tony's hand drops quickly, the blurriness in his vision clearing quickly to take in Sakura. Awake. Awake, breathing harshly, bright green eyes darting around the room in a quiet panic.

"Whoah, whoah," He steps forward, hands hovering over her form as she pushes herself up to lean on her forearms. The green energy is gone, but there's still no guarantee that touching her is a smart thing to do. Her frantic movements pull at her IV's, and a machine starts to beep erratically. Footsteps pound from the outside corridor, and three medics enter the room one after the other.

They speak in hushed tones to each other, tapping at charts in their hands and completely ignoring the girl in the middle that is maybe panicking just a little. Tony's lip turns down slightly, and he decides to do her some mercy.

"Hey, yeah, excuse me," The three agents turn to him quickly, and he knows they forgot about his presence. "Uh, she sorta just woke up from a near-comatose, practically-dead state, maybe give her a couple minutes before you poke and prod, hm?" His stance is casual, hands tucked in his pockets, but the unwavering tone of his voice and slight frown on his face makes it known that his request is more of a command.

They seem to snap out of their medical-miracle-driven mind and realize the man they are… _annoying._ The three send nervous glances to one another, before muttering apologies and exiting the room much slower than how they entered.

Tony sniffs, scratching at his beard to avoid the intense stare of the pink-haired woman. She'll have a lot of questions, he knows, and it's just his luck that it's _him_ here for once - instead of the vigilant, constant Captain Underpants - to answer them.

He pushes a small metal stool to the side of the bed, sitting in it gracelessly. His feet move idly side-to-side, body swaying listlessly in an attempt to ignore the dampened mood of the room. Sakura is still staring at him, but she must have tried to talk and found her throat particularly dry, because she only releases a raspy cough.

Tony pushes off, stopping the roll of the chair in front of the sink and filling up a paper cup, before pushing himself back to her side. The only noise in the room are her sad attempts at clearing her throat and the shaky squeaking of his chair's wheels - he has to say _something_.

She takes the water with a grateful nod, and Tony tilts his head curiously, taking in her awakened form. Other than the dry throat, there isn't anything visibly wrong with her. Her gaze is alert, the rise and fall of her chest uninterrupted. _No bleeding hole in her goddamn chest_.

"I wasn't exaggerating, you know," Tony finally settles on saying, resuming the swaying of his chair, "You really were dying. Should have died, actually. Nothing we were doing was working for you."

Sakura stared at him mutely, confusion swimming in her gaze. Tony sighs as he presses a few buttons on the smart-watch attached to his wrist. "So you worked on it yourself, I guess," He says as a hologram pops up, playing back footage of an unconscious, still-glowing Sakura.

This doesn't make Sakura "ahh" in understanding; instead, the confusion in her gaze triples and she sits up just a little bit straighter, mystified at the image of her own person. And Tony realizes his _main_ question - _how in the shit did she do that_ \- won't be answered today.

"…I…" Sakura's voice is scratchy, and she places a hand over her throat, wincing at the discomfort that talking must cause. But Tony only looks at her silently, the slight nod of his head asking her to go on.

"…I… Cou-coulson is…" Tony smirks ruefully at her question, tapping the footage away and fiddling mindlessly with the device.

He cannot, for the life of him, pin down what to think of this woman. Her bright colouring and delicately-framed body completely contradicts her massive strength (entirely capable of fending off the Hulk - he has seen the video and saved it to three different hard drives). The energy she destroys and, apparently, heals with is unidentifiable, nothing like Tony has ever seen; alien, super-human, or otherwise.

Not knowing where she came from, retaining memory of her name and little else, dropping out of a Tesseract-fed wormhole… The only thing tying her to this entire mess is, honestly, the way in which she appeared. She has no commitment to either "side" (as far as they know), nothing linking her to S.H.I.E.L.D., or Rogers, or Tony, Banner, Loki— nothing.

She has dived head-first into a war that she doesn't know the first thing about.

Which is _stupid_.

…

But also, Tony supposes, the _tiiiiiiiniest_ bit brave. Maybe.

Sakura is still staring at him, brows downturned, and he realizes he hasn't answered her question regarding Coulson. Whoops, probably thinks the guy's dead.

"Coulson's fine. Walked it off, basically," Tony watches as relief takes over confusion, and nearly smirks again.

If her intentions are genuine, this chick is nearly as empathetic and self-sacrificial as Rogers.

 _Yikes_.

"You didn't need to do that, you know. You don't owe us anything - don't owe Coulson anything. Don't ever know the guy. Yet," Tony continues, grabbing the now-empty paper cup from Sakura's light grip and wheeling himself back over to the sink. He hopes the running of the water will muffle his little… speech. He tries to keep his tone as casual as possible to feel as _least_ like Rogers as possible.

"You still jumped in the way of an attack. And when that didn't work, you used your mystic healing abilities - which we need to discuss, because _wow_ \- to heal him before yourself," His squeaky wheels are the next attempt at muffling the words he considers a little to emotional for Tony Stark.

"…That won't happen again. Something like that, I mean. I won't let it. Neither will Rogers, or Romanoff, or Fury, or any of us." He hands her the cup, lips turning down slightly at the honest emotion shining in her green eyes. He doesn't look long enough to decipher it, instead sighing loudly, dramatically.

"Never tell anyone I was that emotional. I'll kick you off of this thing, ok? Hm?" A slow smile spreads on Sakura's face, one that he does not like one bit, and he knows that whatever she says will be—

"Thank you, Tony. You are a very kind man," Tony cringes, scratching at his forearm and groaning exasperatedly.

"WOAH! Woah, oh, god, no, I- ugh. Okay. That conversation - that thing never happened. Ok? Ok," Sakura nods a bit-too-happily and Tony pushes himself to stand, not liking, again, the look in her eyes. He rubs the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

His tone is purposefully rough, and only makes her smile wider ( _goddamnit_ ), as he bites out, "Think you can stand? Walk 'round a bit?"

"I-I can try…" Tony holds his arm out to her, which she takes gratefully, and allows her to lean most of her weight on him as she pushes herself up and out of the bed. Her knees wobble a little bit, and her hand clenches a little too-tightly around his forearm, and Tony forces out a cough to cover the noise of surprise at her tense grip. Sakura seems to realize this, loosening the tight hold of her hand and sending him an apologetic smile.

Tony only sighs.

"So, uh, is there… is there anything else I missed?" Sakura's voice is a bit more steady than her knees as they slowly make a small lap around the room. Tony cringes again, realizing he'll be answering a lot more of her questions than vice versa - the whole reason he had went to her room when she showed signs of waking.

"Well…" He sighs, pausing right as they reach the metal door to the room. There is a whir of activity on the other side - no doubt those medics itching to duck back in and invasively examine the pink-haired woman - that piques Sakura's interest. He doesn't move to open the door.

"…I guess I can start with this little _initiative_ that's been floating around…"

* * *

Sakura takes her time walking through the halls of the helicarrier, wariness in her step and gaze. Everything seems to have come to a near-standstill around her, a drastic change to the panic that ensued during the attack. Tony stayed with her for a bit, while she washed herself up and changed into another borrowed suit from Natasha, but was pulled away to deal with something for Fury.

He rustled her hair, which had her sending him a mildly-annoyed glance, and told her to "take her time" before leaving and saying he'd find her later.

Walking around, stretching out disused muscles, is how she decides to take that time.

She feels no residual pain - a slight tinge in her chest when she moves too quickly, yes, but nothing hinting at the goddamn _sceptre_ she got through her heart.

She doesn't remember the events leading up to it, or immediately after. The order of events is blurry, but what she does remember are the… feelings that dashed through her head at the time.

They must have had something to do with her past self (for lack of a better term). Colours and voices and people that looked familiar, and that final… instruction? Rule? Sakura cannot place names or memories on anything, but she knows it was all important.

And she knows, now, that she can heal. She is a healer.

It's jarring to think of what her hands are capable of. Destroying and repairing at the same time.

Sakura hopes its an ability that will become rusty and unused, but a sinking feeling in her gut tells her that hope probably won't come true.

She lets her feet guide her where they want to go, mind checking out in an effort to evaluate what theses new-found abilities meant for her, and what they meant for her… place, here. Sakura nearly winces when she realizes she has arrived at the former holding cell of Loki. Not the most pleasant of memories in that room, but… maybe it's just a place she needs to be.

For _some_ sort of closure.

There is some guilt weighing her shoulders down - how things could have gone differently if she'd _really_ paid attention to Loki and his movements. Recognized that fighting back against him wouldn't be a one-two-punch kinda thing. Then Coulson maybe wouldn't have been stabbed, and maybe wouldn't have nearly lost his life.

Despite the macabre tone of the thought, she doesn't consider herself vastly important in the grand scheme of things.

Yes, she _wants_ to live, of course - live to find out who, what she is. But compared to the heroes and gods and wars around her? A firefly compared to the sun.

Her considerably self-deprecating thoughts are cut short as she enters the room, spotting a solemn-looking Steve leaning against the metal bars across the gaping hole where Loki's cage used to stand.

 _Another_ reminder of a stupid mistake - not stopping Thor from rushing in and getting caught in his brother's cruel trap. The man that seemed to consider her a real, actual ally dropped out of the sky because she didn't look ahead. Again.

But the heavy expression on Steve's face pulls her from this train of thought. His gaze is darker, mouth set in the harshest clench she has seen on him yet.

It's an expression that doesn't suit him, she thinks.

So she steps forward, silently winding her way to him, knowing he is far-too-engrossed in his own mind to realize she was there. Sakura ends up directly behind him, stumbling over the words she wants to say internally, before finally letting out a murmured:

"…I'm sorry…"

Steve spins around immediately, gaze narrowing for a brief moment before widening when he realized who she was. He takes a jarring step forward, movements jerky, arms reaching out as if to ask for an embrace.

But they're not nearly that close yet, so, instead, his large palms settle on her shoulders, grip clearly gentle out of wariness, or worry. His eyes dart down her figure, taking in the seemingly-healthy appearance of a woman who was seemingly-dying a day before.

"You're…" Steve seems to be as unsure about what words need to be said as she, "…you're up." Sakura cracks a smile at this, which makes Steve wince slightly. Not the most… outstanding words, but words that Sakura thinks is just right.

"And, you're… you don't have anything to be sorry about, Sakura," She opens her mouth to protest, immediately, wanting to go on about _Coulson and Thor and Bruce and everyone and_ \- But Steve doesn't let her, and continues, "You nearly lost your life to protect someone else, someone you barely know. But someone that's… one of us, I guess. I should be thanking you, and _I_ should be apologizing, for not being there."

Sakura is at a loss for words for a moment, the earnestness shining in his blue eyes making her neck warm in embarrassment. To rid herself of the nerves suddenly swimming in her stomach, and draw her eyes from his _honestly too beautiful to be fair_ sky-coloured gaze, she says with a huffed laugh, "Ah, Tony said the same thing."

"Uh, I did _not_ apologize," A voice jolts the pair, making Steve withdraw his hands and Sakura take a nervous step back.

They turn to see Tony, himself, standing there, pose casual but exhausted gaze trained on the empty hole in the centre of the room. He seems to feel their gaze of him, shifting to look at them with a false half-smile, "Not my thing."

There is an awkward silence for a brief moment before Tony continues, "But I do agree. To an extent, Cap, so don't get too excited. Getting involved in something that… that you shouldn't be involved in, kid. No matter who you are, how you got here, it's not… This _isn't_ your battle." Sakura opens her mouth, to either say _he said this before_ or _it's far too late for her not to be involved_ or r _ebuke him calling her kid_ , but Steve beats her to the punch.

"I think that's enough, Stark. We don't need to berate her right now, we need to-"

"Berate her? No, nuh-uh, this isn't berating, _Cap_ , this is being real with her."

"Well it sure sounds like you're talking down to her, _Stark_."

Sakura feels a misplaced sense of deja-vu, and simultaneously feels like the two men have forgotten she is there entirely. Tony is making his way casually towards her and Steve, in a lackadaisical way that seems to only annoy the blonde-haired man further.

Talking to the men one-on-one is an entirely different experience than seeing them interact with each other. They seem to either be on the brink of becoming best friends or mortal enemies, Sakura thinks with a slight air of disappointment. Steve and Tony seem to know where to poke and prod to get the other going - and she has only seen them interact a couple times. She can't imagine how real the underlying tension between the two is if she can point it out after very few observational instances.

The slightly-pleasant Tony and awkwardly-polite Steve disappear when placed face to face, it seems.

Tony's gaze narrows as he takes a step up the stairs and comes to a literal head with the larger man.

"Rogers, in case you didn't realize, two people nearly died because some stupid decisions were made."

Steve seems to puff up at this, and Sakura herself feels some indignation rising, "What Sakura chose to do was incredibly selfle—"

"She was out of her league! Her and Coulson both, you know it. She- they should have waited. They should have-"

"There wasn't really much of a way out!" Sakura nearly shocks herself at the volume of her words, her temper finally flaring at being the example the two men throw around to try and get their point across. Steve and Tony turn at her, both gazes reflecting how taken-aback they are by her outburst. That doesn't really matter, now.

"…Everything I have done up until this point, every decision I've made since… waking up, here - I take responsibility for all of my actions. I always will," Sakura blames the adrenaline and painkillers pumping through her system for allowing her to be so open with her words.

"I worked with Loki because I thought he could help me. Help me… get home, get my memories back, _something_. That was a mistake. I admit to that."

" _That_ ," Sakura's hand darts out, pointing just beside the bickering men. Steve and Tony both look at the bloodstains she is pointing to with some resigned guilt that only pisses her off more.

"That is not a mistake. Or stupid. Or selfless. It's just… another decision I've made," God, she hopes this rambling makes some sort of sense, "And I may not have been a part of this, or-or this wasn't any of my business beforehand, but it is now. Nothing you say or think will change that."

Steve and Tony are silent, staring at her - the former with slight worry and awe, the latter with slight calculation and curiosity. The weight of their gaze is so intense, and the adrenaline seems to be wearing off, so Sakura has to clear her throat to get rid of the tight lump in it.

"Well," Tony says, finally, with an exhaled sigh, "Reindeer Games made it personal, then."

Steve directs his attention to the man in front of him once more, tone still exasperated but a little less terse, "I'm not sure if that's the point."

But Tony seems resolute in this thought, and says firmly, "That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Steve's answer is brisk, and a point they have all surely come to, "To tear us apart."

Sakura moves forward, coming to stand beside the two men as Tony continues, working out his thought process as he speaks, "Yeah, divide and conquers, great, but- he knows he has to take us out to win, right? _That's_ what he wants," Tony waves his hand around, realization seeming to dawn on his face with every word he says.

"He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it… he wants an audience." Steve and Sakura glance at each other, seeming to come to the same sort of conclusion as Tony.

"…Like in Stuttengard," Sakura breaths out, Steve nodding in agreement as Tony walks around the two, nodding and pointing in approval.

"Yeah, that's just previews, this is- this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva. He wants flower, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…." Tony stops suddenly in his grand explanation, expression pausing as one final, massive revelation seems to fall on him.

Steve seems to straighten up slightly, understanding the train of thought of the other man with the tilt of his head and lifting of an eyebrow.

"Son of a bitch."

Sakura is lost. Again.

* * *

He feels a wide smirk spread across his face, and allows it to do so unabashedly.

Everything is sliding in to place. Tearing apart those pathetic excuses for heroes, reclaiming his sceptre, killing that mindless agent and that…. woman.

Loki feels the air of victory swirling just above his head and cannot wait to touch it in a matter of hours. The Midgardian scientist is nearly finished creating the device that will allow the Chirauri to invade this puny planet, and it seems almost too easy to attack such a defenceless planet.

But he's not one to complain about unfair fights.

Loki peers over the edge of the balcony, quietly enjoying the height provided by this tower claimed in the name of movement of people and machines below is, once more, reminiscent of tiny ants wandering a world they cannot survive.

He is pulled from this thought as he hears the scientist call his name, and turns to acknowledge the man.

When he spins around fully, though, he is not on the roof of the Midgardian tower.

No, instead Loki finds himself in that utterly _dreadful_ throne room (for lack of a better word). The world around him is dimly-lit, only assisted by the far-off shining of stars and planets and galaxies alike. _He_ sits, back towards him, hovering in his throne and seemingly-untouchable. Loki despises him.

The Other stands directly in front of him, circling around a rock protrusion and unseen gaze set on the god of mischief. Loki is annoyed by him.

"The moment of reckoning for this Earth is nearly to begin, yet you call me here for one of your mindless drabbles? Your _precious_ Chitauri grow eager for battle each passing moment, yet you mock them by—"

"The girl."

The booming, endless voice that cuts off Loki's rant makes something within him tremble. Just for a moment.

It is very rare for Thanos to speak directly to him, choosing instead to have his missives presented by The Other. Loki cannot tell if this change is a particularly good or particularly bad thing. He can't seem to find his voice in the moment, only tilting his head downward to acknowledge the words of the massive man.

"The pink-haired one lives. I have use for her. Bring her, through the portal - to me."

The sinking of his stomach tells Loki that it is most decidedly a _bad_ thing.

* * *

/an/

ah ! i'm sorry there was such a long wait for this! life got a little busy, and then i got very sick and looking at the computer screen for too long made me want to throw up so i had to write this in small increments djhshdkdfs

a little-less-exciting chapter, but a necessary one! sakura can heal herself, yay! you know what that implies ;))))) actually does that imply anything lmao but yes we got to see some tony / sakura interaction, steve being his golden retriever self, a sliiiiighhttt twist on that one scene between tony / steve because coulson didn't die. soooo i had to find some sort of inspiration for them to put aside differences to team up. and a little self-sacrificial, speech-giving sakura was the solution aha and oh shit ! what does the ending mean ! read 2 find out !

thank you for the favourites and follows, seeing them while i was pushing to write really motivated me. but the reviews are even bigger motivators ! thank you for such kind words everyone ! please please if you liked this chapter, leave a review and let me know - it truly makes my day / means the world to me / etc, etc, etc.

thanks for reading !


	9. come a little bit closer

_come a little bit closer,_

 _you're my kind of man._

* * *

The unfamiliar calmness of his room, quiet and dull and contained, acted as a sub-par distraction from the adrenaline bubbling under his skin. Steve could only focus on the humming of fluorescent lights for so long before his thoughts travel to the imminent battle in front of them and the pink-haired woman in the room beside his.

The battle - easy. Steve is no stranger to war, no stranger to fighting and dodging and bleeding and hoping. It is, truly, the only familiar thing in a world 70 years ahead of him. The complex mess of aliens, gods, magic, machinery, unfamiliar enemies and shaky allies… Sakura seems to be as foreign to this whole thing as he.

And while this may make her unknowingly sympathetic to his thoughts and emotions, Steve doesn't know how, or why, she plays in to this new world; this new time. There are so many things unraveling around him, Steve is a little wary of trying to unravel her mystery as well.

Blue and red is a familiar feeling on his skin - and in the mirror - as he pulls his suit on, a strange comfort in its reminder of running and punching and defending.

The conclusion Tony came to regarding the climax of Loki's plan is an unnerving one, to say the least. They know the what and the where - an alien army, Chitango, Chithona, or something, and Stark Tower - but the when and how are unknown variables. Steve can only hope they have made their grand realization on time, and that whatever is facing them isn't entirely indestructible. Something thrums idly through his bones, beating through veins and muscles - anticipation. The recent fight within the helicarrier was a spike in activity that Steve was quietly thankful for, but he knows it will pale in comparison to the fight immediately in front of them.

A fight they cannot afford to lose.

He won't lose.

There is a light tap from his door that breaks him from this thought, and Steve tugs his gloves on quickly as he makes his way to the entrance. He taps the button to open it, and it slides to the side fast enough to reveal a wide-eyed Sakura, hand raised to (presumably) knock again.

The smile that spreads across Steve's face is an easy one, seeing the embarrassed flush rise on her cheeks and the stuttered way she lowers her upraised arm. Sakura clears her throat, eyes leaving his and Steve, at once, feels a rush of gratitude.

For her to be standing in front of him (conscious and not bleeding out) seems to be a strange sort of miracle. Steve doesn't know her familiarly enough to call her a friend - but he has observed her well enough to call her a valuable ally. One person could make the difference, turn the fight, flip it in their favor, and he is grateful they have one more possibility to fulfill that destiny. Knowing that someone is just as out of their comfort zone as him, but still eager to fight for what they consider right is… another sort of strange comfort.

Steve then realizes he's been silently staring at the nervous pink-haired girl since the door has opened, and cringes momentarily, before he says, "Ah, uhm. Sakura. Glad to see you're… you're up and ready. You're, ah— are you ready to go?"

He would take the opportunity to sink into the ground if it was offered at that moment.

But Sakura - for some unknown, undefinable reason - seems to be a little less tense after his fumbling string of words, the flush disappearing from her face and a half-smile spreading on her face. She tugs on the sleeve of her bodysuit before nodding sharply and saying a firm, "Ready."

Steve smiles, a little more grimly this time, and once Sakura steps aside, he takes the lead through the hallways of the helicarrier. With every corner they round or entrance they pass by, remnants of the recent battle lay strewn about. Missing wall panels, exposed wires, bullet holes. Blood, occasionally. They serve as unavoidable reminders of the stakes of this conflict. It can feel so small, so contained, in such a space floating 30,000 feet above the rest of the world. But the moment they begin to fall, there are countless lives at risk, streets and cities and families and countries and soldiers—

A small palm rests on his forearm, snapping Steve out of the still state he had unknowingly found himself in. He realizes that he has stopped in the middle of the hallway, agents streaming around him with wary looks and hurried steps, and Sakura has moved in front of him. The moment she sees he has come back to himself, she pulls her hand back sharply, but there is still some muted concern on her face.

"Are… are you alright, Captain?" Her voice is quiet, too, an attempt to not draw any more attention than they already have. Steve purses his lips, embarrassed at his distraction, before shaking his head. "I'm fine. I apologize for that," He makes a vague gesture with his hand but can see Sakura doesn't totally take his word for it. She breaks eye contact to tug at her sleeve again and sigh quietly, and when she looks back, Steve sees the skepticism still swimming in her gaze and they don't have time for this—

"Alright. Let's keep going," The conviction of her tone is not able to hide the wariness in her eyes, but she seems to recognize as well the immediacy of their situation. Something Steve is grateful for, as he continues on to their destination, which they reach in silence.

Steve opens the door to their intended room, within which Natasha stands, tense, in front of a bed with messy sheets and slack restraints. She looks slightly caught-off-guard, a rarity for the agent, but Steve wastes little time before saying, "Time to go."

"Go where?" Natasha replies quickly, tension still thrumming through her body. He can feel Sakura's presence just behind him, and Natasha's darting eyes flicker to her as Steve responds, "I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" The opening of a door pulls everyone's attention to the opposite of the room, where Clint emerges, wiping his hands with a towel.

"I can."

Steve feels Sakura tense before he does, and he quickly sends Natasha a look to silently ask if the archer across from them is… back on their side. She nods stiffly, but her eyes linger on Sakura's still figure and she nods once more, dipping her chin lower. Steve forces himself to ignore the exchange, and directs to Clint, "You got a suit?" The other man mutters an affirmative response, and Steve feels the thrum of adrenaline rise again to rest right under his skin.

"Then suit up."

* * *

As Steve departs with a small nod in her direction, and Clint follows soon after, Sakura is left alone with the red-haired agent. When they first entered the room, the other woman seemed very clearly troubled by something. That well-trained mask seemed to have been built up quickly, though, and there are very little remnants of whatever was once on her mind.

In the same way that Steve's sudden halt in the hallways concerned her, Sakura cannot help but be slightly worried about Natasha. With the little time that she has known these people, and despite their initial hesitation towards her, their willingness to allow her to fight, to place some trust in her, has meant the world to Sakura. From being used by an apparent megalomaniac green bean, to being treated as a valued ally, there forms a sense of hope within her.

Even if they are maybe possibly probably turning to her out of desperation. Honestly, Sakura will take what she can get.

Natasha, vigilant as ever, seems to sense Sakura's concern for her, and swiftly starts a new topic, telling her there is something missing from her suit before exiting the room with quick steps. Sakura can only sigh, again, as she drops the subject and follows behind the older woman. If she has an unhealthy amount of empathy for those around her, then everyone else has an unhealthy tendency to talk about anything that may be troubling them.

They reach the hallway that Sakura recognizes as holding their rooms, and can't but feel a little excitement as they stop outside what she presumes to be Natasha's room. The red-head gains access and gestures her inside with little pre-amble, and heads immediately to the storage unit as they enter.

The silence that fills the room is only a little uncomfortable, but as Natasha finds what she is looking for and turns back to Sakura, she finds her breath hitching slightly. A pair of leather gloves rest in the hands of the other woman, and that dull ache makes itself known in the back of her head once again. There are flashes of splitting rock and that green light and grey and gloves and… and Natasha's voice pulls her out of this.

Natasha's words sound muffled, somehow, as she says, "Noticed the little concrete-burns on your fingertips and thought you could use these. I don't have a red pair to match the rest of your suit but I think…" She trails off, seeming to notice the distracted expression on the face of the rosette, who steps forward and gently takes the preferred gloves.

"…thank you," Sakura can tell that the utterly serious tone of her response has only further confused the other woman, and so she admits quietly, "These… remind me of something. From before." Understanding dawns on the face of the agent, but there is a silent question that remains.

"I don't know what, exactly, but… It's something." Sakura exhales, making sure her hands are still as she pulls the gloves on. They stretch easily, fit exactly over her fingers and palm.

They feel right.

"Well…" Her attention is drawn back to Natasha, who is now leaning against the storage unit with her arms crossed in front of her. "I know everything has sort of happened all at once since you… arrived here. I can imagine how difficult this has been. But," At this, Natasha uncrosses her arms and took some steps towards Sakura, "Despite what Fury may say, or yell, I think you still deserve some sort of choice. This wasn't your battle, this doesn't even seem to be your— well, your world. If you want to stay back and lie low, I know some—"

"No." Sakura knows her tone is a little abrupt, but she cannot let Natasha keep going. "I… maybe this wasn't my battle, or this wasn't… this isn't my battle. My home. But I won't sit back if there is something I can do. I may not be as familiar with the stakes of this fight as you all are, but I just can't— I couldn't live with myself if I just sat on the sidelines while everyone else risks their lives."

Natasha is silent for a beat, the narrowing of her eyes showing her hesitation towards Sakura's conviction.

"…thank you for the offer, though," Sakura mumbles a little awkwardly, the very thorough gaze of the woman opposite making her feel as if she is dissecting her very soul. But it is with this stumbled phrase that Natasha seems to ease up slightly, releasing a silent exhale through her nose before sending Sakura a crooked smirk.

"That's a very hefty promise, I hope you know. There's no real chance to go back from this."

A hazy flash of orange, blond, blue, and white.

Sakura holds her hand out, with a returning half-smile.

"The promise of a lifetime."

* * *

"What have I to fear?"

Tony suppresses the urge, once again, to roll his eyes at the green-clad god in front of him. The dramatic accent and gold accessories and all that really make it a little hard to take him seriously. but it is the crazed look in his eyes that stops Tony from just laughing him out of the tower.

That, and his glow-stick of destiny and alien army.

Either way, Tony still uncorks his favorite whiskey and pours himself a glass, responding easily, "The Avengers." Loki tilts his head slightly, and Tony actually does roll his eyes, "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"Yes, I've met them," The smug note in Loki's voice is irritating as hell, but Tony knows that engaging in some hero-villain pre-fight dialogue will give everyone some time. He huffs out a laugh and sends the black-haired man a tight smile of his own, "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But—" As the smile slips from his face, Tony continues.

"Let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; an amnesiac kinda-indestructible woman who you have really managed to annoy, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

At the mention of Sakura, Loki seems to stiffen, jaw tightening and gaze darting to the side. "She lives, then?" Tony doesn't deign him worthy of an answer, and simply takes a sip of his whiskey, the burning in the back of his throat serving as a good distraction from the utter beating he wishes to give the man in front of him.

The green-clothed man is silent for a moment, eyes lingering on the scepter in his grasp, but then he speaks in a voice more subdued than before. Tony has the strange thought that the color of his eyes seem to darken for a split second but casts that aside.

"Let this be the only warning I give you, Tony Stark." Loki's gaze darts to the left for a beat, seemingly deciding something, before he says, "There are forces larger than my own that are after that girl. If I were you, I would be wary of holding her at your hip."

Tony's eyes narrow as he considers the words of the other man, his mind darting about every possible scenario that would make the megalomaniac offer such a warning. What does he have to gain, who could he be referring to, what else is even out there, why is Sakura—

Again, he casts these thoughts aside. Loki doesn't do, or say, anything without reason. Whether that reason is manipulative or not doesn't change the fact that Tony will take his words into account. This freak is a little too much of a loose cannon to even slightly trust what he says, but he can't help but be wary of them all the same.

"…Duly noted," Tony picks up his whiskey and walks around the island, attempting to distract from the uncomfortable feeling that has settled in his gut, "But when they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

Loki's eyes are crazed-as-ever as he responds, "I have an army."

Tony's voice is firm as he says without hesitation;

"We have a Hulk."

* * *

The humming quiet within the Quinjet did little to lessen the adrenaline and anticipation thrumming through Sakura's body. The strange metal machine still leaves a sense of weightlessness in her gut, a feeling of unfamiliarity that comes with soaring above treetops and through the clouds. She affirms herself to the floor of the plane without really thinking about it.

Natasha and Clint are deathly silent at the front, only speaking commands or questions quietly to one another. Beside her, the Captain cuts a figure of subdued solidity, the entire essence of his being completely switching once he dons his blue-and-red costume. Gone is any nervousness or awkward movements; in its place is a man that has witnessed enough battles to find some sense of calm in the preparation before. Sakura can't help but feel something about her past rings true with that.

In her last experience flying in the Quinjet, it was pitch black outside, dissuading any of Sakura's attempts to see this new world. But now, with daylight streaming endlessly around them, the city that Natasha has identified as "New York" is an incredible sight to behold. Buildings of silver and glass stretch till they are shrouded by cloud-cover, bridges stretching over wide expanses of water and crawling with tiny colorful boxes (that Sakura thinks are called cars). It seems to be filled with constant movement and bustle.

…Nothing reminds her of 'home.'

Sakura's moment of misplaced introspection is interrupted when Clint utters a rough, "Shit," and her attention is brought to what lies ahead of them. As they move further towards the city, what becomes extremely evident is a beam of blue light streaming directly from a tall building into what appears to be a dark hole randomly ripping through the sky. Small shapes are appearing quickly and constantly out of said hole, and Sakura can almost feel the tension rise within the Quinjet.

Agent Romanoff speaks sharply into her ear device, "Stark, we're on your three, heading northeast," and the other man makes a quip about a "drive-thru" before giving proper directions that she and Clint may follow. Sakura sends a quick glance in the direction of the blonde man standing beside her, but his gaze is set firmly on the impending battle that lays not far ahead of them.

They bank sharply around a building, and a whirring noise makes itself apparent at the same time a streak of gold-and-red darts past them. What Sakura presumes to be a group of the… things that have appeared out of the portal are quickly destroyed by a barrage of projectiles from the Quinjet. With those taken care of, they begin to ascend, swerving around rooftops and shooting down the seemingly-endless army of creatures flying around them. Something clips their right side, making the plane jolt slightly, and Sakura feels a brief pressure on her back that she quickly attributes to Steve's arm; ensuring she stays standing. Sakura feels a small swell of gratitude for the Captain (even though her feet have not moved an inch since they set off) but this feeling is quickly trampled with the exchange of Clint and Natasha in front of them.

"Nat," His tone is clipped and strong, and her response is a similarly-short, "See 'em." In front of them, on the landing of a tall tower—that Sakura quickly identifies as belonging to Tony with a mere glance at the name plastered on its side—Thor and Loki are exchanging blows with one another. The mere sight of the man in green makes Sakura grit her teeth and clench her fist. Being stabbed in the chest is a pretty good reason to hold a grudge, she thinks.

The two men fighting below them seem to notice their arrival, and Loki takes advantage of this moment to toss his brother to the ground with the swipe of his scepter. The Quinjet immediately starts firing at Loki, but their fear of hitting the blonde god makes them unable to simply release the barrages they shot earlier.

It takes no more than one second for Loki to aim his golden scepter at their plane, and no more than three for him to charge up a stream of blue energy and aim it directly towards their left side. Things happen too quickly for them to try—and fail—to stabilize the machine, for Clint to curse some more from the front seat, and for Sakura to ensure she is stuck to the floor of the jet. Steve nearly stumbles but reaches to the bars above his head to stay balanced. Sakura only hesitates for a moment before she places her hand lightly on Steve's (huge) back, ensuring that he knows she will catch him if he slips, as the Captain made apparent before.

The small tilt of his head in her direction lets her know he got the message.

Despite Clint and Natasha's desperate attempts to keep them in the air, they continue to dive towards the ground. Dragging sharply around a set of buildings, the axis of gravity within the Quinjet is thrown further off-kilter, and Steve's feet begin to lift up and to the right of him. Sakura's hand quickly darts around to rest just below his ribs, and with a little extra use of her energy, she is able to ground him once again. The nod of gratitude is larger this time, and comes with a muttered, "Thank you." She only has time to nod sharply in return before the Quinjet collides abruptly into the corner of a building and, soon after, roughly crashes into the concrete below. They slide for a brief moment before jolting to a stop, with which Sakura removes her hand from Steve and releases the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Clint and Natasha waste no time in unbuckling themselves, and one of them must open the door behind them, for Sakura and the rest of the team are exiting the Quinjet and running through the rubble before she can even think about it. Steve doesn't turn to look at them as they continue forward, simply uttering a firm, "We've got to get back up there," that leaves no room for questions.

As they dart through concrete remains and overturned cars and smoldering fires, Sakura feels concern swell in her chest at the number of people around them. Streaming blindly through destruction, screaming and crying desperately, everything within her is telling her to STOP and run towards whoever needs her help. She knows, now, what her hands are capable of, and they're just running past all of these people who need her to healhealhealhealhealheal—

Sakura's heartbeat is pounding so loudly in her ears, and her gaze is darting so quickly from helpless person to person that she almost doesn't notice everyone else come to a halt in front of a large white building. But there is an unmistakable, foreboding groaning that is coming from the blue and black hole above their heads.

This noise is preceded by the emergence of a massive, screaming metallic beast that is quickly making its way towards the chaotic city below. Sakura feels her heart drop to her feet.

The four of them are entirely frozen in place as it descends towards them, carelessly obliterating anything it runs into before it passes overhead with a mechanical clicking. Humanoid creatures begin to burst out of its side, wires attached to their backs as they land on the sides of the buildings around them. They cannot do anything to stop these creatures as they jump through windows and shoot at the streets around them, and Sakura feels the fear in her bones quickly shift into unfiltered anger as the screams and cries around them seem to multiply. Steve interrupts the stillness of their group to ask, "Stark, you seeing this?" Tony, from the in-ear device that Sakura was given before their departure, replies without much bite, "I'm seeing, still working on believing." He doesn't wait another moment before asking, "Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?"

The confusion in Steve's voice as he responds, "Banner?," mirrors Sakura's own, but Tony doesn't persist on the topic too long. "Just keep me posted."

There is only a brief pause before Tony's voice comes through the comm again, but his tone is even more subdued, "You got Sakura there?" She can feel everyone's eyes immediately dart to her, but she ignores them with a rough exhale before saying back, "Y-yes. I'm here." Tony is quiet for long enough to make Sakura a little worried, but before she can check that he's still present, he speaks again.

"Loki. Said there's, ah—something that's after you. Or someone. Little vague, not sure if he's just tryna spook us, but… you know. Be careful, and all that." Sakura tenses at his revelation and feels a pinprick of pain at the back of her head that quickly disappears. Steve has taken a step closer at some point during Tony's rambling. The worry in his blue eyes is oddly familiar, but it is a sight that almost leaves a sour taste in Sakura's mouth.

A sudden barrage of energy hits the ground around them, and they are forced to dart behind a bright yellow car in an attempt to find some semblance of cover. Natasha and Clint are quick to take up defensive stances, and Steve follows just behind Sakura as she comes to crouch next to the wheel of the car. Creatures on strange machines soar past them overhead, and the archer points out their targeting of civilians. Steve's disgusted uttering of their enemy's name reflects Sakura's contempt for their targeting of helpless individuals. The explosions and chaos occurring all around them make Sakura want to stand up and fightfightfightfightfight.

"They're fish in a barrel down there," The Captain grits out beside her, and though the phrase is unfamiliar, watching these beasts easily attack and destroy without much resistance gets the meaning across rather well. Natasha stands quickly, drawing two guns and quickly shooting down an approaching creature. Clint darts to an overturned yellow car across from them at the same moment three of the beings jump down onto another destroyed car nearby. Natasha turns to Steve and Sakura, sending them an assure nod before breathing out, "We got this. It's good, go."

Steve holds her gaze for a moment, before directing to Clint, "You think you can hold them off?" The archer is sure in his response of, "Captain… it would be my genuine pleasure." He wastes little time in standing and drawing his bow, Natasha joining him in his attacks soon after, giving Steve and Sakura the time to dart towards the railing separating them from the further destruction occurring below. Sakura readies herself to jump, charging energy to her feet, but a firm hand on her arm stops her from doing so.

She turns to Steve, who is staring at her intensely. The grip on her forearm loosens slightly, but his hand remains where it is. He then says, in a rushed tone, "Sakura. What Tony said, I think—"

"Captain." Sakura doesn't let him get much further than that, knowing he'll probably ask her to hang back, or lay low, or whatever. And Sakura also knows that there is no part of her that would run from a fight when she knows she can be of some help. There is a deep urgency to be involved, to be useful, that she will not ignore because of the apparent ramblings of a crazed god. Or whoever else may be involved.

"…I appreciate the concern." Her gaze sharpens as it lands on a beast leveling a lane of cars just a few feet in front of them, and she feels a sense of resoluteness. "But I won't just stand back and let you guys deal with all of this." Steve's brow furrows slightly, but Sakura only takes a step towards the battle lying ahead.

The squeak of leather as she tightens her gloves is oddly comforting, and any hesitation she may have held is immediately smothered by voice in the back of her mind repeating healfighthealfighthealfighthealfight. Sakura only pauses to look back at the tense figure of Steve for a moment and allows a small smirk to appear on her face.

"I won't be watching anyone's backs today."

With that quick utterance, she darts off, dodging around car and concrete to land below amongst the alien's continuous assault on the city. There is a familiar green glow that surrounds her hands, and Steve watches, his mouth held slightly open in planned rebuttal, as she cleanly punches a beast straight into a building.

He can only exhale sharply, shake his head, and adjust his shield as he jumps to join her. Steve can't help but mumble to himself;

"…I hope that's just a saying…"

* * *

 **/an/**

... um ... sorry!

i want to thank everyone that has been anticipating another chapter; all your encouraging reviews and follows and favorites really pushed me to start writing again. last year was kind Dumb Bad - school occupied my entire life, and sucked any essence of creativity out of me lmao. i've been trying to write this since last summer, but managed to find some inspiration and desire to write again after seeing endgame (yIKES).

i want to assure everyone i will never ever abandon this story. i don't know how long it'll take me to finish, but i intend to follow through. and i intend to follow through allllllllllllll the way until endgame ! you bet your butts this story will have arcs ! no matter how long it takes me, i will finish this gosh darn thing !

next chapter is the bAtTle of NeW yOrK so get ready for some big fights and sakura being a bad ass and all that. i hope you guys are as excited for what's to come as i am, and i hope you're entertained enough to stick around. with summer now upon us, i will be updating as often as i can (which will be very often)

thank you all for reading! your support means the world!


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